Cabe farm in Franklin County

LAVONIA — Lou Cabe believes farmers need to be more involved in their community. That’s why she’s heading up an effort to get them to join the Franklin County Chamber of Commerce.

And, the chamber would like them to get involved. That’s why their quarterly luncheon on Monday will feature an agriculture expert from the University of Georgia as their guest speaker.

In January, the chamber appointed an agriculture committee made up of area farmers to build a bridge between farmers and merchants. Committee Chairman Lou Cabe says it’s important for more farmers to be involved in chamber for a number of reasons.

“Agriculture in Franklin County is a big enterprise and the chamber sees a need to communicate with the agriculture community,” Cabe said. “I think this is a good outreach to the farmers and a good opportunity for them to find out about the chamber.”

Cabe also believes it is for chamber members to understand the important role farmers play in the local economy, and how they need to work together on issues important to both.

Cabe and her husband, Chan, have been farming all their lives. Their farm was selected as the 2007 District Winner of the Governor’s Environmental Stewardship in Agriculture Award.

The Cabes currently own 250 acres on Sosby Road off Ga. 106 in the Red Hill Community of Franklin County. In addition, they lease another 300 neighboring acres on which they raise their cattle, hogs, goats, and run several chicken houses.

They have seen how farmers have been overlooked in the planning and zoning of rural counties.

“The chamber can have a part when we start to talk about zoning and raising the mils (property tax millage). They can help when the land becomes so much more valuable for commercial use, but you have a farmer right next door using the land and his taxes go up,” she said.

Most of Franklin County’s population is involved in agriculture, but Cabe said rising gas and food prices are making it harder for many farmers to stay in business. Couple that with commercial zoning resulting in property higher taxes and Cabe believes everyone suffers.

At next week’s meeting, the guest speaker will be William Archie Flanders of the University of Georgia’s Center for Agribusiness and Economic Development.

Flanders is an economist whose research experience includes projects directly involved with agricultural and business enterprises, as well as data analysis and research related to policy analysis and rural economic development.

Flanders has developed a whole-farm model for analyzing expected returns and stochastic outcomes for commodity industries facing a range of price, production, and policy situations.

“His department does studies on each individual county and area. Franklin County has been the focus of one of those studies and he’s going to present his findings at the luncheon Monday. It will give both farmers and merchants the opportunity to see just how what kind of economic impact agriculture has in Franklin County,” Cabe noted.

According to Cabe, response from local farmers to joining the chamber has been mixed, but she said many are interested and many have already signed up for the luncheon.

“You know we own the land and progress takes land. We’ve got to work together; there’s got to be a balance,” she said.