UGA Farm Tour Lands in Stephens Before Taking Off for NE Ga.

Top state officials and the president of the University of Georgia take a farm tour of northeast Georgia.

State Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black and University of Georgia President Jere Morehead were among those taking the tour Wednesday.

That tour started in Toccoa as the plane carrying the officials landed at the Toccoa-Stephens County Airport before the officials headed out to stops around the region.

Black said this is the third year that the state Agriculture Department has done this tour.

“We started this a couple of years ago just to have an annual agriculture tour,” said Black. “We will visit some farms today, some food processors.”

Black went on to say that he feels the tour is important to show to the University of Georgia how important agriculture is to the state and how important the school’s commitment to agriculture is to the industry.

“The land grant mission is teaching, research, extension,” said Black. “With teaching, we have to train that next generation and with research, we have to find those new discoveries that help us in food, farming, forestry, and technology. Then to be able to extend it. That is where extension comes in to extend it in to the communities. We have had a rich history of that at the University of Georgia.”

Meanwhile, Morehead said he understands that agriculture is vital to UGA and this tour is a chance to become more familiar with the industry.

“In my view, as a land grant institution in our state, agriculture and UGA go hand in hand,” said Morehead. “So much of our university is dependent on the support we receive from the agricultural industry. So much of our research is on agricultural issues.”

A host of State House and Senate leaders joined Black and Morehead on the tour, including 50th District State Senator John Wilkinson.

Wilkinson also chairs the State Senate Agriculture Committee.