MACON, Ga. – Colquitt County Farm Bureau members traveled to Atlanta on Feb. 15 to participate in Georgia Farm Bureau Day at the Capitol.

While at the capitol, members of the Colquitt County Farm Bureau delegation visited with Rep. Sam Watson, R-Moultrie. Members of the Colquitt County Farm Bureau who attended the event included: Thomas and Nancy Coleman, vice president; Lawton and Sandra Matthews, director; Trey Hart, director; Charlotte Wingate, office manager and Rob and Logan Cannon, Young Farmers.

The Colquitt County delegation was among the Farm Bureau members from across the state to participate in the event. Participants were encouraged to raise legislators’ awareness of GFB’s 2017 priority issues — animal agriculture, water, state tax and budget matters.

“This is a great day for each and every one of you to contact our legislative leaders and let them know what our priority issues are,” said GFB President Gerald Long. “And let’s be sure and thank them for helping us with our priority issues.”

Long addressed both the House and Senate, thanking the members of both chambers for the work they do on behalf of Georgia farmers and asking them to continue their support of Georgia agriculture.

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman John Wilkinson, House Ag Committee Chairman Tom McCall and Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black spoke at the lunch GFB held at the Georgia Freight Depot, attended by approximately 800 GFB members and state officials.

Wilkinson said the Senate Ag Committee is working on legislation to reduce paperwork for farmers.

“We’re not for more regulation,” Wilkinson said. “We’re for less regulation. We’re going to be working to create an environment where you have less regulation and less paperwork, so you can spend more time doing what you love to do.”

McCall reviewed key issues the House Ag Committee is considering, including the Georgia Agricultural Tax Exemption, the Conservation Use Value Assessment, fee changes for hunting and fishing licenses and others.

Black talked about the upcoming Ag Week in Georgia celebration March 20-24. The weeklong celebration features a Pennies for Produce project to raise funds for food banks around the state, the Seasons and Faces of Georgia Agriculture photo exhibit, which will be displayed in the Sloppy Floyd Memorial Building in Atlanta, Ag Literacy Day statewide on March 23 and Make My Plate Georgia Grown Day in schools across the state on March 24.

Black also cautioned farmers against celebrating the special master’s recommendation in favor of Georgia in the Supreme Court water case brought by Florida.

“We cannot throw the football up into the stands; jump around in the end zone. If we want to celebrate anything we ought to celebrate opportunity,” Black said. “We now have an opportunity to shore up our regulatory environment, shore up our statutory environment with regard to water use. We have a renewed opportunity, each one of us, out from under the regulatory pressure, to do a personal evaluation and a personal inventory at home.”