Sunbelt Ag Expo gets visit from VP

The University of Georgia and its College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences are major players in the annual Sunbelt Ag Expo, which kicked off Tuesday and continues today at Spence Field in Colquitt County. The Sunbelt Ag Expo, one of the largest showcases of new and emerging farm technology, wraps up tomorrow at Spence Field in Moultrie. 

Vice President Mike Pence paid a Tuesday visit to the Ag Expo as part of his swing around south Georgia, where he got a first hand look at damage from last week's Hurricane Michael.

“We will rebuild these crops and these communities,” Vice President Pence said, “We will restore Southwest Georgia. We will restore the Sunbelt region.”

University of Georgia President Jere W. Morehead in attendance.

Morehead spoke at length with attendees about the effects of the storm and what could be done to ease the burden on the state’s farmers, some of whom have lost everything.

“I visited this area only a few weeks ago on my annual farm tour and talked with farmers who were eagerly anticipating peak harvests of pecans, peanuts and other crops. Now many farms have been wiped out and yields have been substantially impacted due to the hurricane,” said Morehead. “I want South Georgia’s farmers to know that the University of Georgia stands with them and is committed to supporting their recovery from this devastating storm.”

The Georgia Power Company says it is wrapping up its power restoration efforts, one week after landfall from Hurricane Michael: there are still thousands of homes and businesses without power in south Georgia, as various EMCs work to restore electricity lost during the storm.