MOULTRIE, GA – State Representative Amy Carter (R-Valdosta) recently spent a day with Governor Nathan Deal, Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, U.S. Senator Johnny Isakson, U.S. Senator Saxby Chambliss, and Secretary of State Brian Kemp at the 2012 Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition. Held from October 16 – 18 in Moultrie, Ga, the Expo provided a unique opportunity for Rep. Carter to once again join Gov. Deal and other state leaders visiting South Georgia as they learned about the exciting educational and economic opportunities provided in the state’s Sunbelt.
“I was honored to once again help host Governor Deal in South Georgia,” said Rep. Carter. “His visit to the Sunbelt Expo, along with Senators Isakson, Chambliss and Secretary Kemp, helps highlight the importance of agriculture, the state’s number one industry, to our state’s economy.”
The Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition is an annual agricultural-based trade show. Known as “North America’s Premier Farm Show”™, the Expo celebrated its 35th anniversary this year. The Expo, which has a 100-acre exhibit area adjoining a 600-acre working research farm, showcases the latest in farming technology.
While touring the 100-acre exhibit area, Rep. Carter, Gov. Deal, and Commissioner Black visited special exhibit sections featuring lawn and garden equipment, pickup and automotive displays, irrigation equipment, all-terrain vehicles, hunting and fishing supplies, precision farming software and hardware, farm fencing, farm buildings, electricity, propane gas, antique tractors, sawmills and logging equipment.
The state leaders also took time to tour the Expo’s 600-acre research farm, where Rep. Carter, Gov. Deal, and Commissioner Black got a close-up view of the latest farm equipment working in the fields. They saw how precision farming technology such as global positioning systems can be used to design a new drainage system called drain tile, which can improve both the soils and the crops of many farms throughout the Southeast. Additionally, the state leaders learned about how the University of Georgia Extension scientists use the Expo farm to test new herbicides, fungicides, planting dates, row spacings and crop varieties, and how they use the information from these plots to make crop production recommendations for the growing season.
In addition to learning about agriculture from the Expo’s exhibits and demonstrations, Rep. Carter and Gov. Deal took time to join other state leaders at a press conference where the Georgia Department of Agriculture and the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety (GOHS) announced the second annual “Improving Georgia’s Yield Behind the Wheel” campaign. This joint initiative between the Department of Agriculture and GOHS calls attention to the need for safety on the state’s rural roads.
“Given the fact that the rate of farm equipment crashes rose 33 percent from 2010 to 2011, it is vital for both farmers and motorists to remember the importance of safely sharing rural roads,” said Rep. Carter. “South Georgia has beautiful country roads, but fast moving cars can approach slow moving farm vehicles within seconds, leaving little time to react. As harvest season approaches, we must all be more vigilant and patient when driving on rural roads.”
For more information on the “Improving Georgia’s Yield Behind the Wheel” initiative, please visit www.gahighwaysafety.org or www.agr.georgia.gov.
In addition to working closely with the Governor as one of his House Floor Leaders, Rep. Carter has also hosted Gov. Deal in South Georgia several times since the he first took office. The Governor’s trip to the Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition marked the second time Rep. Carter brought Gov. Deal to the area specifically to learn about educational opportunities provided in South Georgia. Last year Rep. Carter invited Gov. Deal to Valdosta so that he could meet leaders from Valdosta State University (VSU), Wiregrass Georgia Technical College, and South Georgia Medical College and learn about their combined efforts in building a new Valdosta State University Health Science and Administration building.
*Editor’s Note: Attached is a picture of Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, Rep. Amy Carter and Governor Nathan Deal at the 2012 Sunbelt Agricultural Exposition.
Representative Amy Carter represents the citizens of District 175, which includes portions of Lowndes County. She was elected into the House of Representatives in 2006, and serves as one of Governor Deal’s House Floor Leaders. She is currently the Secretary of Higher Education Committee and serves as a member of the Appropriations and Education committees as well as the Small Business Development and Job Creation Committee.
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