By Clint Thompson
The Sunbelt Ag Expo’s return to South Georgia this week allows farmers, industry experts and legislative leaders to reconvene once again, discuss topics pertinent to the agricultural industry and learn about technological innovations that could impact all sectors of Ag.
One of those leaders in attendance on Tuesday was Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper. He spoke at the opening ceremony and Farmer of the Year luncheon. He discussed what it was like to be back home in South Georgia.
“First off, Expo, it’s always good to be at the Expo because it gets me to South Georgia, back home,” Harper said. “But the Expo is always just a great opportunity to celebrate agriculture in the southeastern part of the US. And we celebrate the naming of the farmer of the year from the southeastern part of the US, just celebrate all things that are the new innovations in technology that will allow agriculture to continue to succeed. It’s always good to be back at the Expo to visit with friends, colleagues, and counterparts, not only from the industry here in our great state of Georgia, where agriculture is No. 1, but also those from the other states around the southeastern part of the of the country where we’re all facing very similar unique challenges when it comes to the agricultural economy.
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“It’s events like this where we come together to have those conversations about how we can address those issues to ensure that farm families can continue to succeed because we know that success is directly correlated to America’s success and our individual states’ success. We obviously look forward to those conversations over the next couple of days and the opportunity to see the new technology and new innovation that’s going to allow American agriculture to succeed moving forward. It’s just always a great event.
“Weather’s great, and it’s going to be great over the next couple of days, as I understand it. It’s just a great opportunity to showcase what makes American agriculture and the family farm, what it is, a spectacular part of our American heritage and what it means.”
Florida dairy and beef cattle farmer Woody Larson was crowned Sunbelt Ag Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year during Tuesday’s Expo event in Moultrie, Georgia. The Sunbelt Ag Expo will conclude on Thursday.