Former Sen. Saxby Chambliss named to Georgia Agriculture Hall of Fame

ATHENS — Former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Moultrie, who served in the House and Senate 20 years, will be inducted into the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame next month, officials with the University of Georgia announced Thursday.

Also being inducted will be the late Thomas Breedlove Sr., who UGA officials described as a pioneering dairy farmer from northeast Georgia.

The induction ceremony by UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences is set for Sept. 25 as as part of the college’s alumni awards ceremony and banquet at the Classic Center. The public is invited to attend.

Established in 1972, the Georgia Agricultural Hall of Fame was established to recognize individuals who made unusual and extraordinary contributions to agriculture and agribusiness industries in Georgia.

“In this day of rapid progress and change, it is more important than ever to preserve Georgia’s rich agricultural history,” Rob Cooper, director of external relations for the college said. “The 2015 inductees not only made a significant mark on the history of Georgia and the state’s largest industry, but also improved the lives of individual Georgians.”

Inductees are nominated by members of the public and selected by the awards committee of the college’s alumni association. Nominees must have impeccable character, outstanding leadership, noteworthy contributions to Georgia’s agricultural landscape and recognition for achievements in agriculture and other areas.

Georgia Ag Hall of Famers include former Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tommy Irvin; Gold Kist founder D.W. Brooks; J.W. Fanning, former UGA vice president for public service, and J. Phil Campbell, founding director of the Cooperative Extension Service in Georgia.

Chambliss, who served in the Georgia Legislature before moving to Congress, earned a reputation as an advocate for agriculture, UGA officials said.

As an attorney in his hometown of Moultrie, Chambliss represented farmers and was elected in 1994 from Georgia’s 8th Congressional District to the House of Representatives, where he became an advocate for farmers and ranchers.

Chambliss helped shaped the nation’s agriculture policy, assisting with authoring four farm bills during his years in the House — 1995-2002 — and in the Senate — 2003-15. He chaired the Senate Agriculture Committee 2005-07.

Breedlove’s impact went further back. UGA officials say Georgia farmers have Breedlove to thank in part for the agencies and cooperatives such as the electric membership cooperatives, the Farm Bureau and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Services Administration that have their roots at the end of the Great Depression.

The Walton and Morgan County dairy and beef farmer helped introduce Georgia farmers to what is today the FSA. He was the first and longest-serving executive director of its precursor, Georgia’s Agriculture Adjustment Administration, working for the organization 1939-55.

In the early 1950s, Breedlove represented nine Southeastern states as regional director of the field service branch of the Federal Production Marketing Association. He was a founding board member and first president of Walton EMC, which helped bring electricity to thousands of farm families in northeast Georgia during the 1930s, and a founding vice president of United Georgia Farmers, which today is known as the Georgia Farm Bureau.

In addition to recognizing Chambliss and Breedlove, the ceremony and banquet will honor alumni award winners.

This year, Georgia’s agricultural community nominated Bo Warren, director of the Georgia Center of Innovation for Agribusiness, and Jimmy Forrest, a nationally recognized peach grower and owner of Dixie Belle Peaches in South Carolina, for the CAES Alumni Awards of Excellence.

Travis Moore, senior brewmaster at the Anheuser-Busch Brewery in Cartersville; Carmen Byce, a combat veteran who worked to improve livestock husbandry in Afghanistan, and Megan Green, a large animal veterinarian who works for animal health company Merial, will receive young alumni awards.