Guest Post: Stacey Abrams Kicked Georgia Farmers When They Were Down

This is a guest post from State Representative Terry England (R-Auburn). Rep. England is the Chairman of the House Appropriations committee as well as a farmer, so Abrams’ comments about Georgia’s number one industry struck a chord with the Chairman.

Hurricane Michael roared into South Georgia a couple of weeks ago as a Category 3 nightmare, causing $3 billion in agriculture losses and breaking the hearts of good men and women who have faithfully worked the land for generations.

Six days later, Stacey Abrams’ whirlwind bus tour gave them a second kick to the gut.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp did the right thing by visiting hurting farmers and their families. Democrat Abrams instead went to Statesboro to rev up students at a Young Democrats of Georgia Southern event.

What she told the students showed me how little she truly cares about rural Georgia and the people who have made agriculture the state’s No. 1 industry.

It isn’t unusual in the final weeks of campaigns for candidates to slip up and let folks see what’s really in their hearts. I think that’s what happened Oct. 16 when Ms. Abrams told her rapt audience of college students:

“People shouldn’t have to go into agriculture or hospitality to make a living in Georgia.”

Did she really travel to South Georgia in the horrible aftermath of Hurricane Michael to tell students that Georgia’s top industry is not worth their time?

Georgia farms feed families across this nation and around the world, and the biggest long-term threat to this state’s No. 1 industry isn’t hurricanes. It’s whether there will be enough young farmers to learn the industry and one day take the places of farmers reaching retirement age. This is why I am so devoted to future farmers in the FFA, Georgia 4-H, and Georgia’s Career, Technical and Agricultural Education programs in the schools!

Parents, it might be a good time to have a sit-down with your young people.

Maybe suggest they not take career advice from a candidate who at the start of her campaign was $200,000 in debt and at age 44 hadn’t paid off her student loans or credit cards, and who loaned her campaign $50,000 while owing the IRS $50,000 in delinquent taxes.

Then suggest they do a little independent research by going to the website of the Georgia Department of Economic Development — georgia.org — and finding out for themselves just how much they have been misled by Ms. Abrams as she pursues her own career goals.

They will learn on the website that Georgia for the past five years has been recognized as the top state in the nation to do business — and in the past eight years of Republican leadership has developed a robust and diversified economy with more than 700,000 new jobs.

Also, please let them know that despite what Ms. Abrams led them to believe during her speech, Georgia already has many registered apprenticeship programs that allow students to work full time to get on-the-job experience while continuing their educations!

It is inexcusable for a gubernatorial candidate to mislead young people about their state and their potential futures here.

But I am more worried about Georgia’s farmers.

Before the hurricane hit, many of our producers were anticipating the best cotton crop of their lives. Some of them had been in production 20 to 30 years. In a matter of minutes, Michael picked their crops for them and didn’t leave a check.

To put this into perspective, Georgia is the No. 2 producer of cotton in the United States!

Georgia also is America’s top producer of chicken broilers, spring onions, peanuts and pecans, and one of the top five producers of chicken eggs, blueberries, watermelons, cucumbers and peaches. Our farms export more than $4 billion in products every year!

What has me worried is that I’m getting calls from folks who aren’t sure they can just pick up and keep going.

Every one of us, regardless of political party, should be supporting these folks! As House Agriculture Committee Chairman Tom McCall often points out, you only need five things to live — air, water, food, shelter and clothing.

The Good Lord provides air and water, and the farmer provides the other three while taking care of the first two.

Never, ever underestimate the value of the hard work on Georgia’s farms. These operations are feeding us, clothing us, and growing the timber we use to build our homes.

This state and this nation owe them our help and our utmost respect.