Ag News

By Jennifer Whittaker, Georgia Farm Bureau

Taylor Casper and Jay Moon have joined the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture (GFA) as program assistants for the GFA Georgia Ag Experience mobile ag classroom.

Casper and Moon will be responsible for setting the Georgia Ag Experience’s schedule for visits to schools, community, and statewide events as it travels statewide. They will also serve as the mobile classroom instructors and work closely with county Farm Bureau staff and volunteers as the GAE visits communities.

“We’re excited to have Taylor and Jay join the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture team,” said GFA Executive Director Lily Baucom. “They have ag education experience from FFA and 4-H and an understanding of Georgia agriculture that will prove helpful in their positions.”

Casper, a native of Oconee County, graduated from the UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences (CAES) in May with an ag education degree and is now working towards obtaining a master’s degree in agriculture and environmental education from the UGA CAES. As a CAES ag education student, Casper developed the cotton lesson used in the mobile classroom under the direction of her professor, Dr. Jason Peake. She was an FFA member from middle school until she graduated from North Oconee High School. Casper raised hogs as her FFA Supervised Agricultural Experience project growing up on the hobby farm of her grandparents’ – Terri and James Whitehead. Casper earned her American FFA Degree after investing $7,500 in her swine production SAE and putting in more than 2,000 hours on the SAE and completing more than 65 hours of community service work.

Moon, a native of Morgan County, is a 2019 ag education graduate of the UGA CAES. He most recently worked with the Morgan County Cooperative Extension as a  4-H Youth AmeriCorp Service Member. Moon also served as a coordinator of the Morgan County Ag Center (MCAC) for the Morgan Board of Commissioners and served as co-superintendent of The Dairyland Classic Registered Dairy Show held at the MCAC. Moon grew up working on his family’s dairy farm, Moon Dairy, where he and his brother, Hunter, still help their parents, Jim and Sylvia Moon. Moon has been an active member of the Morgan County Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee and served on the GFB Dairy Commodity Committee. He is a member of the Morgan County Dairy Association, Cattlemen’s Association, and Row Crop Association.

To learn more about the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture, the Georgia Ag Experience mobile classroom, or to help grow Georgia’s greater agricultural community by making a donation to the foundation, please visit www.gafoundationag.org.

Taylor Casper

Jay Moon