Athens, GA |

Widely regarded as one of the premiere colleges for agriculture in America, the University of Georgia prides itself in keeping up to date with the latest research and technology within the industry. Recently, this group of GFB board members got to check out some of those advances the university has made and learn how they help keep the state’s biggest industry running strong.

“Well, we realize that the largest economic impact to Georgia is eighty-three and a half billion dollars worth of economic impact to the state of Georgia through agriculture. No matter what folks tell you, ag is the number one industry in the state. So, therefore, all the research and the dedicated people that work at the university, is very, very important to our farmers who actually grow chickens, cows, hogs and turn dirt for the crops that we grow,” says Georgia Farm Bureau President, Tom McCall.

One of the highlights of the trip was a stop here at the new poultry science building, a fifty-four-million-dollar facility that houses state of the art laboratories, classrooms, and meeting spaces all dedicated to the number one commodity in Georgia.

“It is providing some of the most cutting edge lab space and teaching space to help us really advance what we do on the research side, as well as teaching that next generation of leaders that can step into our poultry industry, which is the biggest part of our number one industry agriculture,” says Nick Place, UGA CAES Dean.

“You know, the poultry industry is so big in this area, in the state of Georgia, we definitely welcome the research they’re doing, not only on the research side, but we need it on the production side for the state of Georgia to keep being the number one industry with poultry helping lead that. So, definitely an awesome facility,” says GFB Board Member, Russ Moon.

The group also got a tour of the center for animal and dairy science, where they got an update on everything from meat processing to groundbreaking research on regenerative medicine. It’s a diverse learning experience that will help serve both these ag leaders and in turn, the entire industry in the future.

Well, we need to know and we represent the farmers in the state. We are the largest ag organization in the state. So, everything we can learn and everything our board of directors can learn, to better represent our members, especially our farmer members; it’s important for us to be able to see this and be able to maybe help a farmer someday,” says McCall.

University leaders like President Moorehead and CAES Dean Nick Place also dropped by to not only to highlight all the good work being done, but also show their appreciation for their partnership with the Georgia Farm Bureau.

“That partnership we have between the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences with Georgia Farm Bureau is very important. We see us as key partners together to really work on elevating what we do with the number one industry in the state, agriculture,” says Place.

By: Damon Jones