EGG COMMISSION PUTS AWAY PANS AFTER 52 YEARS OF PROMOTING EGGS

Georgia egg producers have voted to discontinue the Georgia Egg Commission and its program of promotion, education, and research.

The vote came recently in the form of a referendum, which gave farmers who own birds in Georgia the opportunity of continuing the Commission for another three years.  According to the Georgia Department of Agriculture, which handles the referendum, two-thirds of those voting had to be in favor for it to pass.

Begun as part of a Marketing Order on July 1, 1961, the Georgia Agricultural Commodity Commission for Eggs - better known as the Georgia Egg Commission - was one of the nation’s first agricultural commodity commissions to be formed, and until its demise, was one of the longest-running commodity programs in the nation. 

At its creation, Georgia egg producers saw a need for the program to promote eggs, to educate the public as to their economical and nutritious value and to provide funding for research.   The initial producer-paid assessment was set at 2 cents per thirty-dozen case of eggs.   As it grew into a well-respected program, the Commission’s assessment was raised in1989 to 4 cents, and in 1994 to 5 ½ cents.   At the age of 50, in an effort to fight inflation, the program’s assessment was cut to 4 ½ cents, where it remained until its cooking flame was extinguished.  No tax money was ever used to fund the program.

RESEARCH is considered by some to be the most important part of the Commission’s three-fold purpose.   Thanks to excellent cooperation with the University of Georgia’s Poultry Science Department, the Commission has provided thousands of dollars which have been used with great success as “seed money.”   Projects have ranged from those which have helped the producer...to others that are of benefit to consumers.  In addition to actual research, the Commission has provided a $10,000 study grant for University students majoring in Poultry Science.

The program is expected to continue until the end of the Commission’s fiscal year on June 30th.