Tag Archives: farm bureau advocacy

Georgia Farmers Gain Access to Vital Water Source After 13-Year Ban

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Tifton, GA |

Despite the countless hours that go into preparing the land, choosing the right variety and protecting against pests and diseases, no crop can be successful without the proper amount of water. And for more than a decade the largest underground source in the region has been unavailable to farmers here in Georgia. However, thanks to a new ruling from the EPD, those restrictions have been lifted.

“EPD will begin accepting applications for new withdrawals from the Floridan aquifer in southwest Georgia beginning in April of 2025. That’s certainly welcomed news as that area’s been under a moratorium now for, thirteen years. The news is, as I say, certainly welcomed for growers in that area. The Floridan aquifer is a fantastic resource for farmers in that area. It supports hundreds of thousands of acres of irrigation,” says Mark Masters, Director for the Georgia Water Planning and Policy Center.

With a number of counties in that part of the state experiencing abnormally dry conditions in 2024, having the aquifer as a possible option for irrigation is exciting news.

“The Floridan is a resource in terms of groundwater that is more readily accessible for most of the growers in Southwest Georgia in terms of the cost of tapping that resource unlike some of the deeper aquifers. And so, for farmers that may be looking to expand their irrigated acreage in some way, this is an important development,” says Masters.

Despite the ruling that allows for these new drilling permits, there will still be some restrictions on water usage in order to maintain the ecosystem.

“This is not opening up to just unlimited acreage forever. These new permits will have some drought restrictions on them because as we now know, there is that tight connection and we want to make sure that we are maintaining adequate stream flows in some of those critical areas. And so, these new permits will have some drought restrictions in place, but again, in most years, this is going to be a really good resource for our farmers,” says Masters.

Being good stewards of the land, which includes maximizing water efficiency, is a cornerstone within the farming community and one of the major factors that went into this new ruling.

“One of the main reasons we’re able to make this announcement and that we got this good news from the governor’s office is that over this same period of time, we’ve been able to demonstrate that our farmers are really good stewards of the resource. And so, we understand that their use is highly efficient and that they’re taking care of our shared water resources. That’s gone a long way to helping us get to this place where we’re now able to begin expanding some of that use,” says Masters.

This is also a culmination of plenty of hard work behind the scenes, where researchers, administrators, and most importantly, farmers worked together in order to come up with a resolution.

“As much as Farm Bureau has been involved with getting that moratorium looked at and lifted for everything from frost protection to irrigation wells, it probably wouldn’t have moved as fast if it hadn’t had been for Farm Bureau. So, to all of the people down in that part of the state that are Farm Bureau members, thank you for helping us get the ball rolling,” says Tom McCall, Georgia Farm Bureau President.

By: Damon Jones

Georgia Farm Bureau Unites County Leaders to Strengthen Agriculture Advocacy

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Perry, GA |

Georgia Farm Bureau recently hosted more than one hundred and fifty county presidents from all over the state under one roof – an event that’s meant to facilitate the chance for county, grassroot leaders to fellowship, communicate, and learn more about the organization they are representing on a local level.

“Everything we do and everything we advocate for starts at the county level. At the local level, it doesn’t come from top down, it comes from the counties up. Which is why we say we are the grassroots organization, for agriculture in Georgia. So when you get all of the people from all over the state together in one place where they can talk to each other, and they all got similar problems, they all have some of the similar solutions. And, when they can talk to each other and maybe sit in some of these breakout sessions that we’re doing, it speaks some ideas that they can take back home, or they can tell us how they want things to be done as a state organization,” says Georgia Farm Bureau President, Tom McCall.

Of course, being a grassroots organization that is the voice for the state’s ag industry comes with an active and engaged membership, which is why during one of the breakout sessions, county presidents were educated on the political landscape and empowered to become advocates and promote advocacy efforts back in their counties.

“Legislators, they are very busy people and it makes the most difference when they can put a face with a name behind an organization. So when we have this huge member base behind us and more members reaching out, calling, even texting, writing, or hosting events and meeting those legislators face to face, then it creates more of a physical community for them to connect with rather than sending a letter and then maybe just seeing a signature or a bunch of signatures and a bunch of names,” says Amelia Junod, GFB Advocacy & Policy Development Specialist.

Of course, having engaged members that advocate is vital to the future of the industry and the organization, however, one important part of that is having a unified and consistent message for those outside of the industry and organization to hear.

“We know that consistency builds credibility and as an organization that’s been around for more than a hundred years, we’ve got a lot of credibility already, but there’s still so many people that don’t know who we are and what we do as an organization. It’s our hope that we can empower these really talented, grassroots level leaders, to go out and have those conversations with prospective Farm Bureau members, and having consistency in that messaging helps to ensure that whether they’re joining in North Georgia or South Georgia or middle Georgia, that they understand that Farm Bureau is the trusted voice of agriculture; that we serve farmers and ranchers and rural communities of all types, that they understand that we support one another, that we speak with the united voice and that we give back to our communities. We do that because everyone depends on a successful American agricultural system, and it’s our job as Farm Bureau to work alongside farmers and ranchers to make sure that our food, fuel and fiber, supplies are safe, sustainable, and secure,” says Austin Large, Senior Director for Membership & Organization Development for AFBF.

By: John Holcomb