Sanford Bishop receives Friend of Farm Bureau award

BRINSON — Congressman Sanford D. Bishop Jr., D-Ga., received the Friend of the Farm Bureau Award from the Georgia Farm Bureau at a ceremony hosted at Glenn Heard Farms here.

“I want to thank the Georgia Farm Bureau for this award and honor,” Bishop said. “It has been my pleasure to work with the Farm Bureau, and I will always be a strong voice in Washington for our farmers and producers.

“The agriculture industry is crucial to our country, contributing over $1 trillion to the U.S. economy, and that is over $80 billion in Georgia alone. Whether through the Farm Bill or the annual appropriations process, I will always work toward ensuring that Congress provides the programs and resources needed to make sure Americans continue to have the safest, most affordable, and most abundant food and fiber.”

“Today we gathered farmers in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District with Congressman Sanford Bishop to present him with his 2024 Friend of Farm Bureau Award,” Ben Parker, national affairs coordinator for the Georgia Farm Bureau, said. “Through this gesture, we are happy to show our support for all the many beneficial acts Bishop has carried through his years of being a true friend and champion for Georgia agriculture.”

“Congressman Bishop has been a tremendous friend and supporter of agriculture during his time in Congress,” Tommy Dollar, president of Dollar Farms in Bainbridge, said. “His door is always open to discuss the pressing issues that face agriculture all across our country.

“We need disaster assistance for our farmers that were devastated by Hurricane Helene, and we need economic relief for those farmers who have been devastated by input costs. We also need a Farm Bill so that the Ag community will have certainty in the days ahead. Congressman Bishop will fight to make sure that these issues are addressed, and he is indeed a friend of Agriculture.”

“Congressman Bishop has been a friend to the Farm Bureau, but more importantly a friend to American Agriculture,” Andy Bell of Bell Farms in Climax said. “This award represents his commitment to ensuring that the United States will continue to have the safest food and fiber anywhere in the world while providing all of the necessary resources that our farmers need for the food security of the world.”

Congressman Bishop is one of the most senior members of the U.S. House Appropriations Committee and, as such, is the top Democrat on the subcommittee that funds the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, the Food & Drug Administration, and related agencies. He is also a member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee, which oversees and crafts the country’s agriculture and nutrition policies and programs.

An agriculture issues leader, Bishop regularly works across the aisle to craft legislation and support funding for programs that are vital to the well-being of America’s farmers.

Earlier this month, he led a farm tour of Minor Brothers Farms in Sumter County. He was joined by Congressman Austin Scott, R-Ga., and Congresswoman Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, who are the Republican and Democratic leaders of the U.S. House Agriculture Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, Risk Management and Credit.

In May 2024, Bishop voted in support of the Farm Bill passed by the U.S. House Agriculture Committee. In September, he sent a letter to House and Senate leaders and to the House Agriculture Committee leadership urging them to set aside differences and commit to passing a Farm Bill before the end of this Congress.

House Republican leaders have not scheduled the Farm Bill for a vote. Some Republicans and Democrats have raised budgetary concerns about the bill, and the U.S. Senate is working on its own version of the Farm Bill. Bishop said he remains committed to working toward a bipartisan bill this year that will get the full support of the U.S. Congress and that can be signed into law by President Biden.

Special Photo: Georgia Farm Bureau