by Dave Williams | May 2, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – University of Georgia officials broke ground Friday on a research farm next to the Georgia National Fairgrounds in Perry.
The 250-acre Grand Farm will serve as a hub for research, education, and sustainable farming practices. Innovative technology including precision agriculture, robotics and data analysis will be used to increase productivity while conserving resources.
Grand Farm will partner with UGA’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences on the project.
“This collaboration represents the perfect marriage of tradition and innovation,” said Nick T. Place, the college’s dean and director. “By bringing together the college’s world-class researchers and the UGA Institute for Integrative Precision Agriculture with Grand Farms’ cutting-edge technologies, we will revolutionize the way we feed and clothe the world’s population.”
The roots of the partnership go back five years, when University System of Georgia Chancellor Sonny Perdue helped launch a Grand Farm project in North Dakota while serving as U.S. secretary of agriculture.
“This partnership is a great example of how Grand Farm works to advance agriculture technology and solve grower pain points across varied geographies,” Grand Farm Executive Director William Aderholt said.
“Collaborating with the University of Georgia allows us to leverage their extensive research capabilities and expertise in agricultural sciences, enhancing our ability to innovate and implement solutions that are tailored to diverse agricultural environments.”
The farm’s first field projects are expected to roll out this year.
by Dave Williams | May 1, 2025 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Gov. Brian Kemp signed legislation Thursday codifying into state law the right of women struggling to get pregnant to receive in vitro fertilization.
House Bill 428, which the General Assembly passed with just one “no” vote, was among a half dozen health-care measures the governor signed during a ceremony at the Savannah Convention Center.
The legislation’s chief sponsor was Rep. Lehman Franklin, R-Statesboro, whose wife June received IVF treatment and is expecting a child next month.
“(Families) deserve to have the chance to experience this great gift from God,” Kemp said before signing the bill.
The legislation was prompted by an Alabama Supreme Court ruling last year that declared frozen embryos created through IVF must be treated as children. The decision essentially banned the procedure in that state until Alabama lawmakers passed a bill protecting IVF and Republican Gov. Kay Ivey quickly signed it.
“We needed to ensure that here in Georgia, no family would have to question accessibility to IVF,” said state House Speaker Jon Burns, R-Newington, who made the IVF measure one of his top priorities for this year’s legislative session.
Other health-care bills the governor signed Thursday included:
- House Bill 94, which requires insurance companies to cover the costs of fertility preservation services when medically necessary treatments for cancer and other life-threatening diseases impairs fertility.
- House Bill 89, requiring health-care providers, hospitals, and pharmacies to release clinical records of certain deceased patients to the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Committee.
- House Bill 584, which transfers oversight of various mental-health programs from the Georgia Department of Community Health to the state Department of Behavioral Health and Development Disabilities.
- House Bill 473, an annual update of the list of controlled substances that are considered dangerous.
- Senate Bill 55, which provides a pay raise to Georgians with disabilities who are currently being paid subminimum wages.
