January 6, 2016
www.gfb.org
Vol. 34 No. 1
GFB BOARD APPROVES 2016 PRIORITY ISSUES On Dec. 18, 2015, the Georgia Farm Bureau Board of Directors approved the organization’s priority issues for 2016. The issues include taxes and budget, natural resources and environment, animal agriculture and general agriculture issues. “We’ll maintain our involvement in any issue that affects agriculture,” said GFB President Zippy Duvall. “These issues have surfaced as having particular interest within our membership.” GFB’s aims regarding taxes and budget are to protect the integrity of the Conservation Use Value Assessment (CUVA), preserve the Georgia Agricultural Tax Exemption (GATE), advocate for funding of agricultural institutions, agencies and youth programs and support equipment and machinery income deduction allowances. The board resolved to work with legislative and regulatory authorities to ensure the long-term availability of GATE while seeking ways to protect against the improper use of program exemptions. Also, it is GFB’s stance that the GATE program should remain under the jurisdiction of the Georgia Department of Agriculture. GFB’s goals for natural resources and the environment include working to ensure government policies do not adversely affect agricultural water rights, preserving private property rights when natural resources and species protection efforts are proposed, supporting reasonable water conservation measures while enhancing farmers’ access to water, and providing legislative assistance to agencies that provide water and other natural resource services to farmers. The board also agreed to continue GFB’s involvement in regional water councils and the Metro Water District. Regarding animal agriculture, the board resolved to work toward increasing the number of food animal veterinarians, to support and promote biosecurity practices to minimize threats to animal health, and to limit regulation of animal agriculture at the farm level. General agriculture issues include the pursuit of methods to control nuisance wildlife like feral hogs, ensure the availability of new technologies and promote their responsible use, and prevention of legislation requiring mandatory labeling requirements for genetically modified products.