Gov. Kemp signs legislation to support Georgia agriculture

Apr. 21—BAINBRIDGE, Ga. — Tuesday afternoon Governor Brian Kemp signed in new legislation at the Bainbridge Campus of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College to strengthen the agriculture industry for future generations and create supportive foundations for recent expansions into citrus fruits.

Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper welcomed the attendees to the signing, saying that the day was one of celebration for agriculture in rural Georgia.

"Thank you all for coming out this afternoon as we celebrate rural Georgia agriculture and what better place to do that than ABAC," he said. "It is only fitting to do what we're doing today in the heart of ag country and I'll be honest with you, I'm proud that we have a governor that understands the impact of rural Georgia, the impact that agriculture has on our state."

The agriculture industry is vital to the success of Georgia as a whole, Harper said, adding that the bills the governor would be signing would help advance the state's number one industry.

"Our state can't be successful unless our agriculture industry is successful," Harper said. "That's part of what we're doing here today. The governor is signing some legislation that helps advance our state's number one industry and ensures that agriculture continues to be the paramount economic engine and driver for our state's economy."

Harper thanked the agricultural community for their hard work and said that House Bill 545, the Citrus Commodity Commission Bill, and Senate Bill 220, the Farmland Conservation Fund Act, would protect what makes Georgia the best state to live and work in.

"These two pieces of legislation advance our state's number one industry and protects agriculture," he said. "it allows our state to continue being successful and allows us to continue to have the best state to live, work, and raise a family."

Welcomed to the stand by Harper, Kemp took a moment to thank the bi-partisan support that these bills had throughout the process, the farmers and agriculture business leaders in the room for their vital part in the growth of Georgia's greatest industry and the ABAC team for their aid in organizing the signing.

"I want to just thank all the stakeholders, but also the farmers and agri-business folks in the room," Kemp said. "This is a big industry in our state, we know it, $73 billion that represents over 340 thousand jobs plus you put food on our tables, create the fiber we need in our lives. You also make our community stronger and that's something that we value in this state."

Kemp spoke on the progress made in agriculture throughout the generations of Georgians, going from being known for peaches and peanuts to expanding to beef, blueberries and beyond.

"Since the very founding of our state, Georgia has always been a powerhouse for agriculture and over the generations, with help from a lot of innovators and researchers, we've certainly grown our reputation," he said. "We're known for peaches and peanuts, but also a lot of other things now. We produce massive amounts of broilers and beef, timber, pecans, blueberries and much more and now thanks to the advancements and this bill, we're welcoming another crop to Georgia's community in great numbers."

And the rapid growth that Georgia has demonstrated in regard to citrus trees, Kemp said, was something that couldn't have happened without the hard work of farmers and expert research by the University of Georgia and similar institutions.

"In 2013, Georgia just had 4500 citrus trees," he said. "In 2021 alone, over 390,000 citrus trees were planted in the state. In one year, farmers planted 86 times the entire number of citrus trees in Georgia a decade ago. This industry has grown at a rapid pace and UGA and other institutions have been leaders in researching citrus disease and furthering the viability of trees in our state."

House Bill 545, Kemp said, will support that growth by establishing an commodity commission for citrus fruits under the Department of Agriculture.

"House Bill 545, that I will sign shortly, will help us ensure that Georgia will continue to benefit from this growing industry in a successful and sustainable way by creating an agriculture commodity commission for citrus fruits, housed under the Department of Agriculture," he said.

Along with House Bill 545, Kemp said that Senate Bill 220, the Farmland Conservation Act, will create a conservation fund that will help secure the future of Georgia's agriculture industry as rural farmers face growing challenges to maintaining their family farms.

"The Farmland Conservation Act, I will sign here shortly as well, that bill's on the right to farm legislation that I signed last year, I know a lot of people in this room worked for a lot of years to get that done," Kemp said. "The state, and our country as a whole, has been losing agriculture land at an alarming rate as it becomes more challenging to maintain a family farm. This bill will help us preserve agriculture land for future generations of Georgians and ensure that our state's number on industry remains strong despite the pressures by creating a conservation fund for farmland."

In signing these bills, Kemp said that this was just one step in remembering and emphasizing the importance of supporting the hardworking men and women that make Georgia the state that it is.

"With both these bills, once again I'm just going to bring up the importance of Georgia's number one industry and further supporting the hardworking men and women who make our state the best place to work and raise a family," he said.