Members Appointed to Georgia Citrus Commission

Georgia’s newly established Agricultural Commodity Commission for Citrus Fruits, known as the Georgia Citrus Commission, has its five members that are tasked with steering the course of the state’s citrus industry.

The Commodity Commission Ex Officio Committee appointed the following members to the Georgia Citrus Commission:

• Ken Corbett, Corbett Brothers Farms, Echols County. He produces the Besties brand of satsumas.
• Landon Herring, Herring Farms, Lowndes County. He grows several types of citrus along with tobacco and peanuts.
• Justin Jones, Jones Planting Company, Lee County. A producer of satsumas and other varieties, Jones is also part owner of a satsuma company in Tifton, Georgia.
• Jaime Patrick, Patrick Family Farms, Tift County. The farm grows a wide variety of produce, including about 200 acres of citrus.
• Lindy Savelle, JoNina Farm, Thomas and Mitchell counties. She grows citrus and operates a citrus nursery.

Each commission member has a minimum of 5 acres of citrus trees. Members will serve terms of three years and may be reappointed if they choose. The Georgia Citrus Commission was created to support the state’s growing citrus industry by providing financial backing from assessments on products marketed for research, education and promotion of Georgia citrus.

Stephen Batten, Delbert Davis, Kyli Lamar, Bill Renz and Brent Strickland were appointed as advisory members to the commission. The advisory members are asked to attend meetings, provide input, serve on committees, help gather information from other growers and relay the message of the commission to producers. An advisory member cannot vote but can provide input. 

The commission’s establishment has been a long time coming, says Savelle, who also serves as president of the Georgia Citrus Association. The commission is something her association has been discussing since 2017.

“We first brought it up to our association way back then, and you’ve got to wait for the timing to be right and for the industry to be large enough to support it,” Savelle said. “I’m just happy to be a participant on the commission. I think there’s some people that have been selected that will be great leaders, who have experience on commodity commissions more so than me. I’m excited to be a part of the five selected for it.”

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