June 8, 2011
www.gfb.org
Vol. 29 No. 23
GFB HOLDS PRAYER SERVICE TO ASK FOR WEATHER FAVORABLE TO AG
Adverse weather conditions from storms this spring and drought conditions have played havoc with Georgia agriculture, and on June 2 Georgia Farm Bureau hosted a prayer service to ask for favorable agricultural conditions. Many areas of the state have gone as long as two months without significant rainfall, affecting planting decisions and prompting worries of crop losses. The drought conditions were the biggest focus of the prayer service, which drew approximately 100 people to the auditorium at the GFB home office. Berrien County Farm Bureau held a separate observance at its office in Nashville, Ga. “It’s very very severe for this particular point in the growing season,” said Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black, who encouraged the staging of the prayer service. “We’re having many, many producers that are having to water a crop in just to get a stand. Certainly there are expense issues involved there. It’s just not viable long-term. You use irrigation to nurture a crop. You do not use irrigation to produce a crop. The dry land has come under significant stress.” In addition to the drought, forest fires and late-April tornadoes destroyed nearly 400 square miles of timberland and caused damage to chicken houses, hay barns, irrigation pivots, fencing and other ag assets across north Georgia. According to Georgia Farm Service Agency statistics, chicken producers in Bartow, Floyd, Lamar and Pickens counties lost 638,000 chickens, and nearly 1,500 farm dwellings, service buildings and farm structures across the state were either damaged or destroyed. The service featured brief speeches from Black and GFB President Zippy Duvall, music from Johnny Prettyman of Mabel White Baptist Church in Macon and a message from Rev. David Sharpton. Sharpton, the minister of education & evangelism at Maysville Baptist Church, delivered the main message. “Ask God to rain down on us spiritually,” Sharpton said, “but also to heal us physically by providing rain.” Prettyman led the gathering in singing the hymns “Amazing Grace” and “Showers of Blessings”. Black and Duvall each urged those gathered to pray without ceasing, stressing the widespread need for rain “Before it will mean anything to God, it has to mean something to us,” Duvall said. “This means a lot to us.” Added Black, “Don’t just start when things get tough.”