Ag News
Georgia Farm Bureau elects 2025 Board of Directors
Posted on Dec 11, 2024 at 17:11 PM
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Jennifer Whittaker
jawhittaker@gfb.org
December 11, 2024
GFB President Tom McCall reelected GFB president for third term
GFB South Georgia VP Daniel Johnson redesignated GFB 1st vice president
Ralph Caldwell reelected GFB Middle Georgia vice president
Bernard Sims continues serving as GFB North Georgia vice president
MACON, Ga. - Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) voting delegates elected the organization’s 2025 board of directors Dec. 10 during the 87th Annual GFB Convention held on Jekyll Island.
GFB voting delegates reelected President Tom McCall for a third, two-year term. He was first elected in 2020. McCall and his family grow a variety of grain crops, sweet corn, hay and straw along with beef cattle, hogs and sheep on their farm in Fortsonia in Elbert County. He and his wife, Jane, have two adult living children: Al (daughter-in-law Rachel) and Katie M. Archer (son-in-law Bristol), two grandsons and one granddaughter. Their oldest son, Bud, died in 2000. The McCalls are of the Methodist faith.
McCall has been a Farm Bureau member since 1978. His first leadership role with Farm Bureau was serving as the chairman of the Elbert County Farm Bureau (ECFB) Young Farmers & Ranchers (YF&R) Committee. He represented GFB’s 2nd District on the GFB YF&R Committee in 1981-82 and chaired the state committee in 1982. McCall represented GFB’s 2nd District on the GFB Board of Directors from 1984-1996. He also served as ECFB president for several years.
McCall served in the Georgia House of Representatives for 26 years from Jan. 9, 1995, when he was sworn into office, until he retired from the legislature at the end of his 2020 term. As a state representative, McCall represented Georgia’s House Dist. 33, which at the time included Elbert and Lincoln counties and portions of Madison, Wilkes and Columbia counties. McCall chaired the Georgia House Agriculture & Consumer Affairs Committee from January 2005-2020. He currently serves on the UGA Research Foundation Board of Directors. He earned an associate degree in agriculture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and a bachelor’s degree in agronomy from the UGA College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences.
GFB voting delegates redesignated GFB South Georgia Vice President Daniel Johnson of Pierce County as the organization’s 1st vice president from among the organization’s three regional vice presidents, a position he has held since 2021. The GFB first vice president would be tapped to lead the organization should the president be unable to serve. Johnson begins the third year of his third, three-year term representing GFB’s South Georgia region that consists of 53-counties in the southern third of the state.
Johnson, who grows tobacco, corn, cotton and peanuts, previously represented the organization’s 10th District on the GFB Board of Directors from 2006-2016. He is vice president of Pierce County Farm Bureau and previously served as PCFB president for 25 years. Johnson chairs the Georgia Agricultural Commodity Commission for Tobacco. He and his wife, Patricia, have four children and four grandchildren.
GFB members in the organization’s middle Georgia region re-elected Ralph Caldwell of Heard County to a second, three-year term as GFB Middle Georgia vice president. Caldwell was first elected in 2021. The GFB Middle Georgia Region includes 56 county Farm Bureaus in the middle third of Georgia stretching from the Alabama line to the South Carolina line.
Caldwell and his wife, Kim, raise poultry and cattle while growing corn and soybeans. The couple’s son, Colton, who is married to Delayna, helps on the farm when he isn’t at his law practice. The Caldwells have one granddaughter. Caldwell, a preacher for more than 30 years, is currently serving as interim pastor at Gold Ridge Baptist Church.
Caldwell began serving as a Heard County Farm Bureau director in 1990 and has served as the HCFB president since 2002. He served on the GFB Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee from 1992-1994.
Bernard Sims of Catoosa County begins the second year of his sixth, three-year term as the GFB North Georgia vice president. Sims was first elected to the position in 2008.
The GFB North Georgia Region includes 49 county Farm Bureaus in the upper third of Georgia. Sims serves as the Catoosa County Farm Bureau president, a position he has held since 1979. Sims and his wife, Janet, grow turf grass, small grains, and hay, and raise cattle. The Sims have two surviving adult children and eight grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. They are members of Burning Bush Baptist Church.
GFB voting delegates in the organization’s 3rd District elected Chad Carlton of Polk County to a two-year term on the GFB Board of Directors to represent the district’s 14 counties in the Metro Atlanta area. Carlton and his wife, Julie, own a diversified farm that produces dairy, eggs and meat (beef, pork, chicken, lamb and turkey) sold directly to consumers.
A Farm Bureau member since 2001, Carlton has served on the Polk County Farm Bureau Board of Directors for about 15 years. He is currently a county director and previously served a five-year term as county vice president and multiple years as the Young Farmer chairman.
Carlton served on the GFB Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee in 2005-2006, chairing the state committee in 2006.
He won the 2007 GFB YF&R Discussion Meet and advanced to the final four round in the 2008 American Farm Bureau (AFB) Discussion Meet. The Carltons won the 2011 GFB YF&R Achievement Award in recognition of their farm and leadership activities and were one of four finalists for the 2012 AFB Achievement Award.
The Carltons have two daughters – Jersey and Wren, and one son, Atticus. The family attends Calvary Baptist Church where Carlton teaches Sunday School. Carlton earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science and an MBA from Berry College. He is a member of Rockmart Masonic Lodge #97.
The following were reelected without opposition to serve two-year terms on the Georgia Farm Bureau Board of Directors: Wesley Hall of Forsyth County, 1st District; Russ Moon of Madison County, 2nd District; Skeetter McCorkle of McDuffie County, 4th District; Matt Bottoms of Pike County, 5th District; James Emory Tate of Jeff Davis County, 6th District; Ben Boyd of Screven County, 7th District; Don Wood of Wilcox County, 8th District; Lucius Adkins of Baker County, 9th District; and Lamar Vickers of Berrien County, 10th District.
GFB directors beginning the second year of the two-year terms they were elected to in 2023 are: Bill Bryan of Chattooga County, 1st District; Gilbert Barrett of Habersham County, 2nd District; Brad Marks of Newton County, 3rd District; Russ Wilburn of Barrow County, 4th District; Leighton Cooley of Crawford County, 5th District; James Malone of Laurens County, 6th District; Gary Bell of Evans County, 7th District; Scotty Raines of Turner County, 8th District; Paul Shirah of Mitchell County, 9th District and David Lee of Bacon County, 10th District.
Allie Andrews of Lamar County was named chairman of the GFB Young Farmers & Ranchers Committee. Julie Hardy of Thomas County was selected to chair the GFB Women’s Leadership Committee. Each will serve a one-year term as committee chairmen and will sit on the GFB Board of Directors.
Appointed officers of the GFB Board of Directors include General Counsel Duke Groover, Chief Financial Officer & Corporate Treasurer David Jolley, Chief Administrative Officer Jeffrey Harvey, Corporate Secretary & Senior Counsel Jeanna Fennell, and Assistant Corporate Treasurer Rachel Mosely.
Delegates also voted on policy that will direct the organization’s stance on legislative issues pertaining to agriculture in the coming year.
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Pictured from right, Georgia Farm Bureau President Tom McCall, GFB 1st Vice President & South Georgia Vice President Daniel Johnson, North Georgia Vice President Bernard Sims and Middle Georgia Vice President Ralph Caldwell will lead the state’s largest general farm organization in 2025. (Photo courtesy of Georgia Farm Bureau)
New GFB 3rd District Director Chad Carlton. (Photo courtesy of Georgia Farm Bureau)
ABOUT GEORGIA FARM BUREAU
Founded in 1937, the Georgia Farm Bureau Federation is the state’s largest general farm organization with 158-chapter offices that cover all of Georgia’s 159 counties. As a membership-driven, nongovernmental organization, GFB serves as the voice of Georgia farmers and rural Georgia by advocating for them on legislative issues and promoting Georgia commodities. Its volunteer members actively participate in activities that promote agriculture awareness.
GFB membership is open to the public and offers a wide variety of benefits. Enrollment in any of the member benefits is optional and not a requirement for membership. If you would like more information about agriculture, please visit www.gfb.org, like Georgia Farm Bureau on Facebook @GeorgiaFarmBureau or follow on Twitter @GaFarmBureau.
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