Forsyth State Senator: Georgia is Home to Agriculture

By State Sen. Jack Murphy, R-Cumming

When you are surrounded by skyscrapers and the sounds of construction mixed with sirens in the background, the soundtrack to urban living, it’s easy to not recognize the significance of agriculture to the state. 

In truth, agriculture should be the No. 1 reason why Georgians are proud to call this state our home because we are ranked No. 1 nationally for production of poultry, peanuts, pecans and rye.  We come in second place for cotton, cotton seed, fresh market cucumbers and spring onions. In fact, we are in the top 10 across the nation for 20 different agriculture products.

Agriculture contributes more than $71.1 billion annually to our economy with a total Farm Gate Value in 2011 of $13 billion. Farm Gate Value is the net worth of agriculture products after subtracting marketing costs.

As a revenue generating industry, agriculture is equally important for creating and sustaining jobs in Georgia. One in seven people in our state work in agriculture, forestry or related fields, and each Georgia grown product adds thousands of jobs to our economy. Therefore, the state has started a new program called Georgia Grown to market and expand our state’s agriculture producers, processors, suppliers, distributors, retailers, agritourism and consumers. This is a crucial economic development initiative as it will help to attract more agriculture jobs to Georgia.

Colloquially known as the ‘Saudi Arabia’ of Pine trees, Georgia’s forestry industry has a total economic impact of $14.4 billion and created more than 61,000 jobs in 2011. We hope to create and bring more jobs to our state through the Georgia Grown program.

This is just the minute view of how vital agriculture is to our state.  On my two-day agriculture tour through Georgia with other lawmakers earlier this month, I further explored agriculture’s impact.  I had the opportunity to speak with experts from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences in Tifton, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College, Fort Valley State University, and Georgia Farm Bureau. I visited cotton gins, chicken hatcheries and more to get close-up view of how agriculture makes our economy thrive.

This experience has strengthened the value of agriculture to me, and I’ll continue to support its growth and expansion in Georgia through legislative action as we head into the 2014 Legislative Session.

Sources: U.S. Ranking of Georgia Farm Commodity Production (2011), Georgia Farm Bureau, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development, University of Georgia   

Murphy serves as chairman of the Regulated Industries and Utilities Committee and represents the 27th Senate District, which includes portions of Forsyth County. 

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