January 20, 2016
www.gfb.org
Vol. 34 No. 3
AFBF OKS GA POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS, LONG ELECTED TO BOARD Nine policy submissions from Georgia Farm Bureau were approved by voting delegates during the final policy deliberations of the American Farm Bureau Federation voting delegates at the 2016 AFBF Convention in Orlando on Jan. 12. The approved GFB submissions covered a variety of topics ranging from restraints on federal regulatory authority to USDA including cottonseed with other oilseeds for farm program eligibility. AFBF policy establishes the organization’s stance on issues important to agriculture. “The approval of our policy submissions shows that many issues we view as critical in Georgia are important in many other states,” said GFB President Gerald Long. “That common ground adds strength to our voice in Washington on ag issues of national importance.” On regulatory review and reform, AFBF delegates approved Georgia language to bar the Legal Services Corporation from soliciting cases at a farmer’s field or work as well as language that would recognize agritourism as a viable agricultural enterprise by all federal and state agencies. AFBF supports FSA utilizing generic commodity certificates for repaying cotton and peanut loans, a practice that was approved by Congress at the end of 2015. AFBF also passed GFB’s recommended policy that the USDA raise the moisture level it uses to grade farmer stock peanuts as SEG2’s from 2.49 percent to 3.49 percent. AFBF adopted GFB’s suggested policy regarding federal assistance to poultry growers impacted by an outbreak of avian influenza or other infectious diseases through the USDA’s Risk Management Agency or other disaster programs. AFBF also accepted GFB’s suggested language calling for the improvement of GPS and land based wide area augmentation system (WAAS) transmitters. Long was elected to the American Farm Bureau Federation Board of Directors during the AFBF Annual Convention on Jan. 12. Long will represent the AFBF Southern Region, which includes Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Long succeeds Zippy Duvall as GFB president after Duvall was elected to the AFBF presidency. The 20-member board includes 18 members who are elected by AFBF voting delegates.