Amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the 2021 Georgia Ag Forecast Seminar will be virtual this year on Friday, Jan. 29. But it is still expected to present timely information for producers and industry experts.
Those interested can still register for the event which is slated to start at 9:30 a.m.
Keynote Topics
Keynote topics will focus on agritourism and COVID-19’s impact on agriculture, the state’s No. 1 industry.
Tourism is a $66.3 billion industry in Georgia and contributes to the growth and revenue of small and large businesses. Agritourism is a major sector of Georgia tourism.
The University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) is conducting surveys to assess the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the state’s agricultural industry. The first set of findings were released last September. A year-end follow-up survey was conducted in December. Results from both will be presented at Ag Forecast.
Breakout Sessions
There will also be breakout sessions for interested attendees, says Mark McCann, assistant dean for University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.
“When we’re in one live session (like previous years), we go through all of the commodities. The one thing we decided when we went into this virtual delivery is that we’re going to break them into commodity areas. There’s four breakout sessions following the general session. Each of those commodity type areas or general discipline areas, we’re going to spend 45 minutes to an hour, which is going to allow more in-depth discussion on that particular area,” McCann said.
The four breakout sessions include:
- Livestock and poultry
- Cotton, peanuts, grains and oilseeds
- Green industry and vegetables, fruits and tree nuts
- Forestry and land taxation
The sessions will be held concurrently during Friday’s meeting but will also be posted for later viewing.
“If you said, ‘I’ve got peanuts and cotton, but I wanted to hear about cows, too.’ Well, they can listen to cotton and peanuts and agronomic crops, and then they can get to the recording of the livestock session and hear it,” McCann said.
Nick Place, the new dean of the UGA CAES will provide remarks as well.
The event is expected to end at 11:30 a.m.
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