December 28, 2011
www.gfb.org
Vol. 29 No. 52
GFB TO HOST FIRST OF FIVE AG FORECAST MEETINGS Keynote speaker Nowell Berreth will give an update on current farm labor issues and University of Georgia economists will provide the annual economic outlook for agriculture and agribusiness at the 2012 Georgia Ag Forecast, presented by UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Georgia Farm Bureau and the Georgia Department of Agriculture. Berreth, a partner with law firm Alston + Bird LLP, works frequently on matters concerning various agricultural statutes, including the Packers & Stockyards Act, the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and the CapperVolstead Act. He is a past chair of the State Bar of Georgia’s Agricultural Law Section and serves on the advisory board of the National Agricultural Law Center at the University of Arkansas Law School. He leads Alston + Bird’s agribusiness practice team. The Ag Forecast meetings are scheduled for Jan. 23, 2012, at the Georgia Farm Bureau home office in Macon, Jan. 24 at the UGA Tifton campus conference center, Jan. 25 at the Neesmith Lane Center in Statesboro, Jan. 26 at the Georgia Mountains Center in Gainesville and Jan. 27 at the Carroll County Ag Center in Carrollton. Each session will feature an overview of the coming year and a regional speaker will discuss farm labor issues. At the Macon meeting, the featured speakers will be UGA Extension Economist Dr. Nathan Smith and American Farm Bureau Senior Director of Congressional Relations Mary Kay Thatcher. GFB Legislative Director Jon Huffmaster will speak at the other four meetings. UGA’s George Shumaker will give economic outlook presentations at the Tifton and Statesboro meetings. Dr. John McKissick will give the presentation at the Gainesville meeting and Dr. Curt Lacy will give the presentation at the Carrollton meeting. Shumaker and McKissick are professors emeritus with the UGA Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development. Lacy is a livestock economist and associate professor in the Agricultural and Applied Economics Department at the UGA Tifton campus. Each meeting will begin with coffee and on-site registration at 9 a.m., and seminars begin at 10 a.m. A networking luncheon will take place at noon. Participants will receive a copy of the 2012 Ag Forecast book, which provides a detailed analysis of each major commodity produced in Georgia. The deadline to register is 5 p.m. Jan. 19, 2012. Limited onsite registrations will be accepted on a first come, first serve basis. Registration is $30 for individuals and $200 for a table of eight. For more information or to register visit http://www.georgiaagforecast.com.