UGA and Georgia Tech outline ag research, Grand Farm and extension funding needs

Georgia Tech and University of Georgia officials told the Senate committee about a suite of agricultural research and extension projects they say support rural economies and industry competitiveness.

Georgia Tech (Doug) detailed four strategic thrusts: poultry automation (robotic deboning and autonomous house robots to collect sensors and health data), chemical/biological work to remove phosphorus from processing water, an agricultural robotics and perception program, and a new row‑crop effort addressing peanut sampling and grading tech. He described prototype successes — for example, a loose‑shell kernel deflector that improved separation accuracy from roughly 30% to about 90% in tests — and outreach through FarmBot deployments to rural schools to promote computer‑science education.

UGA’s College of Agriculture (Dean) summarized how the $5 million appropriated last year was allocated: $3.25 million to the UGA Grand Farm (255 acres near the state fairgrounds) and $1.75 million to research and education centers for equipment, irrigation and connectivity. The dean also described amended‑budget additions (about $6M to RECs, $1.6M more for the Grand Farm and $838,000 for blueberry freeze protection in Alapaha/Tifton).

Why it matters: officials said investments reduce growers’ time‑to‑market, support precision‑ag adoption and strengthen extension capacity in rural Georgia. Committee members asked for follow‑up on hiring timelines for extension agents and on metrics such as plan‑review turnaround times cited by EPD and other agencies.

What comes next: both institutions said they will provide follow‑up details about pilot performance, hiring plans for technicians and agents, and return‑on‑investment metrics for the Grand Farm projects.

Sources: Georgia Tech (SEG 1650–SEG 1960); College of Agriculture/UGA Grand Farm (SEG 2050–SEG 2290).