- Collection:
- Georgia Government Publications
- Serial:
- Press release.
- Title:
- Press release [Oct. 23, 2003A]
- Creator:
- Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Contributor to Resource:
- Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Publisher:
- Atlanta, Ga. : Georgia. General Assembly. House. Public Information Office
- Date of Original:
- 2003-10-23
- Subject:
- Georgia
- Location:
- United States, Georgia, 32.75042, -83.50018
- Medium:
- publications (documents)
- Type:
- Text
- Format:
- application/pdf
- Description:
- Open access; Unrestricted online access star GAGAL
July 29, 2002B; title from Georgia Government Publications citation, viewed September 19, 2007. - External Identifiers:
- Call Number GA L412 .P1 P7 2003/10-23A
- Metadata URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/id:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2003-s10-h23a-belec-p-btext
- Digital Object URL:
- https://dlg.galileo.usg.edu/do:dlg_ggpd_i-ga-bl412-b-pp1-bp7-b2003-s10-h23a-belec-p-btext
- Language:
- eng
- Holding Institution:
- University of Georgia. Map and Government Information Library
- Rights:
-
Georgia House of Representatives Public Information Office
Room 131, State Capitol 30334 404-656-5082 1-800-282-5800
10-1867-5021 For Immediate Release
October 23, 2003
County Extension Agents High Priority for Lawmakers
Meeting Held to Discuss Future Funding
Atlanta The Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee along with the Higher Education Sub-Committee of Appropriations met recently with Gale Buchanan, Dean of the University of Georgia's School of Agriculture and representatives from the state's many commodities. The discussion focused on potential reductions in next years budget, specifically the amount of County Extension Agents who serve Georgia farmers by providing information on crops.
Because of Georgia's current revenue shortfall, Governor Perdue has ordered state agencies to cut their current spending plans by 2.5 percent and ordered an additional 5 percent cut for next year. That has prompted UGA's School of Agriculture, who employs county agents, to float the elimination of eight positions throughout the state.
"These county agents and researchers are invaluable to rural communities," said State Representative Robert Ray, D-Fort Valley, Chairman of the House Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee. "They provide services and information for farmers who frankly are having a hard time in today's tough economic times. Georgia is no longer just competing with the Midwest in agriculture but with other countries such as Brazil. Cutting such a valuable resource will close the door on our state's number one industry."
State Rep. Ann Purcell, D-Rincon, Chairwoman of the Higher Education Sub-Committee said, "Research is the key to improving Agriculture in Georgia and it would be a disservice to our farmers if this much needed tool is no longer available. Funding for UGA's School of Agriculture's County Extension Agents is a top priority. Agriculture is the backbone of
The number of county extension agents has dropped from 504 in 1990 to 312 now and the number of extension specialist has decreased from 226 to 111 in that same time. Butts, Macon, Meriwether and Talbot counties have no extension agents and in the last fiscal year the system cut 21 jobs.
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For further information contact Rep. Ray at 404/656-5122 or Rep. Purcell at 404-656-5139.