GFB Awards Harvest 20 Research Grants

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Wednesday, August 21st, 2019

Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) has awarded $94,000 in research grants to seven Georgia scientists and their research teams who are addressing production issues impacting Georgia farmers. GFB President Gerald Long announced the recipients of the organization’s Harvest 20 Research Grants Aug. 8 during the 2019 GFB Commodity Conference held at the UGA Tifton Campus Conference Center.

“Supporting agricultural research that addresses production problems Georgia farmers are facing on their farms is one of the many ways Georgia Farm Bureau is supporting Georgia agriculture and our farmers,” Long said.

A review committee selected the following research projects from 32 proposals to receive GFB grants: Can Common Nutritional Strategies Have a Negative Impact on Beef Production?, principal investigator Dr. Lawton Stewart; The Etiology & Epidemiology of Cotton Blue Disease in Georgia, principal investigator Dr. Sudeep Bag; Surveying & Monitoring Wood-Boring Ambrosia Beetles in Tree Nurseries, Tree Fruit & Pecan Orchards, principal investigator Dr. Angelita Acebes; Assessing Potential Impacts of a new strain of the bacterieum Xylella Fastidiosa on Blueberry Bushes, principal investigator Jonathan Oliver; Antimicrobial Waxes for Produce Application, principal investigator Dr. Govindaraj Dev Kumar; Evaluating Snap Bean Cultivars & Germplasms for Resistance/Tolerance, against Cucurbit Leaf Crumple Virus, principal investigator Dr. Bhabesh Dutta; Evaluation of the Effect of Foliar Fertilizer in the Early Soybean Production System, principal investigator Dr. Mark Freeman.

The grant recipients have been invited to present their research results in a poster session at the 2019 GFB Annual Convention in December.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the research findings presented at our annual convention in December,” Long said.

This is the second year Georgia Farm Bureau has awarded grants to Georgia researchers who are tackling production issues. Last year GFB awarded almost $42,000 in research grants to five Georgia scientists and their research teams working to help beef, poultry, vegetable and row crop farmers.