By Gray Smith
Submitted
On January 15th and 16th, three Gilchrist County Farm Bureau board members traveled to Tallahassee to participate in the annual “ Farm Bureau Day”. Logan Cutts, Gray Smith, and Bruce Thomas traveled to the Capitol to insure that Gilchrist County was represented during the important event. The purpose of this yearly event is to assure that the state legislation is informed on relevant ag policy and the priorities of farmers in the state. Multiple bills were stressed this year. The bill that appeared to cultivate the most excitement is on that will eliminate tangible personal property tax for ag producers in the state of Florida. This bill has the potential to save producers a tremendous expense if it is eventually passed.

The GCFB board always welcomes any input from local producers with regards to any priorities they would like to have presented to the legislature. While speaking with Representative Clemons and Representative Bradley, we also continued to seek funding to support the completion of our new extension facility. We were very thankful that the trip included no county expense due to a state Farm Bureau grant. We are looking forward to 2024 and the exciting things it has in store for our county and state.