News        from ABAC

Michael D. Chason Director of Public Relations ABAC 30 -- 2802 Moore Highway Tifton, GA 31793-2601 Phone 229-391-5055 Fax 229-391-5056 mchason@abac.edu

IMMEDIATE AUGUST 25, 2005

ABAC, UGA TOURS HIGHLIGHT TIFT COUNTY CENTENNIAL SEPTEMBER 11

TIFTON—The focus of Tift County’s Centennial Celebration shifts to the educational and research programs of Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and the University of Georgia Tifton campus on Sept. 11.

Dr. David Bridges, Assistant Dean for the UGA Tifton campus, and Tom Call, ABAC’s Interim President, will welcome visitors at 1:30 p.m. inside the Rural Development Center. There will be displays highlighting UGA research and teaching programs in Tifton and a demonstration site for future farm technology, including the autonomous farm vehicle called “The Spider.”  

Tours of both the ABAC campus and the UGA Tifton campus will begin at 2 p.m. The ABAC tour will circle the entire 421-acre campus with information on the J.G. Woodroof Farm, the 57 programs of study available, and the new Health Sciences building now being constructed.

The ABAC bus tour will stop at the new ABAC Place Apartments where visitors can take a look at the John Hunt Town Center and one of the new apartments, where each student has a private room complete with double bed, desk, chair, chest of drawers, closet, ceiling fan, and high speed internet and cable television access.

“ABAC has really grown up with Tift County,” Call said. “Our first classes were in 1908 so we’re not that far away from a celebration of our own. We have a lot to talk about, including another all-time enrollment high this semester.”

One of the UGA tours will highlight several farm commodities important to Tift County and southwest Georgia, including turfgrass, peanuts, vegetables, beef cattle, dairy cows, cotton and ornamental crops.

Another tour will spotlight UGA educational opportunities offered in Tifton, including the new four-year degree program and programs for elementary students and high school teachers.

Visitors can take a self-guided tour of the National Environmentally Sound Production Agriculture Laboratory, a state-of-the-art building where scientists work on cutting-edge technology.

“Many innovative farm practices and machines have been developed by scientists who live and work in Tifton,” said Dr. Gale Buchanan, the Open House Committee Chair. Scientists on the UGA Tifton Campus have received 28 patents and developed more than 300 new plants.

“Over the years, there have been many developments made by the people of this campus and community that have dramatically improved the lives of people locally and around the world,” Buchanan said.

“As Tift County celebrates its 100th birthday we celebrate nearly 100 years of continuous public service through research and education,” said Bridges. “We hope that the community will take this opportunity to visit the UGA Tifton campus and see how we support agriculture, protect the environment and educate students.”

With facilities and land donations from Captain H.H. Tift, the Coastal Plain Experiment Station opened in 1919, becoming the first experiment station in the nation's vast coastal plain, which stretches from Delaware to Texas.

The CPES has grown to become the Tifton campus of the UGA College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, which now includes the Rural Development Center, the Cooperative Extension Service, Tifton Campus Conference Center and U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Services.

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