July 29, 2015
www.gfb.org
Vol. 33 No. 30
SEN. PERDUE MEETS FARMERS, TOURS ABAC/UGA TIFTON CAMPUS U.S. Sen. David Perdue met with farmers in Tifton July 25 during a breakfast held at ABAC's recently renovated Tift Hall. Perdue told the group he fought to be seated on the U.S. Senate Agriculture Committee to represent Georgia's largest industry - agriculture. “I know the first thing I have to do is be here and listen. I take my seat on the agriculture committee very seriously,” Perdue said. “I’m so proud to be from a state where agriculture is the largest industry and contributes more than 50 percent to the state economy.” Georgia Farm Bureau President Zippy Duvall introduced Sen. David Perdue. “As a state Farm Bureau president, I travel the country, and I hear other state Farm Bureaus complain about their legislators and elected officials not appreciating the importance of agriculture. Georgia is different. We are blessed to still have people that are public servants who realize agriculture is still the largest industry, and we are blessed to have state officials who support agriculture. Georgia Farm Bureau promotes Georgia agriculture, and we invite anybody to be part of our mission and I’m proud to be part of it,” Duvall said. “Sen. Perdue has shown his interest in agriculture and he brings along his business experience and realizes no one can be successful with undue regulations.” Sen. Perdue told breakfast attendees government works at the state level because state governments are run by citizen legislators who have real jobs and they stay in their local communities. “The number one thing I’m trying to fight is to become Washingtonized. In the Senate we have 36 senators who have been in office for more than 20 years. Our founding fathers never intended this.” Perdue said. He criticized President Obama for running the U.S. by circumventing Congress and implementing regulations through federal agencies and Perdue expressed concern over the U.S. debt crisis and the nuclear deal recently negotiated with Iran. Following the breakfast, ABAC President David Bridges and Dr. Jerry Baker, dean of ABAC's School of Agriculture & Natural Resources, gave Perdue and Georgia Commissioner of Agriculture Gary Black and GFB President Zippy Duvall a tour of the ABAC & UGA Tifton Campus. UGA Crop Physiology and Management Professor Dr. Craig Kvien welcomed Perdue, Black and Duvall to the UGA Future Farmstead house. This house is designed to be a zero-net energy house through the use of solar film on the roof, a geo-thermal HVAC system and insulation made of recycled blue jeans. UGA Irrigation Specialist Wesley Porter gave Perdue an overview of the variable rate irrigation research UGA is conducting to help farmers use water as efficiently as possible in row crop production.