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Paul Johnson, a Decatur County dairy farmer and large animal veterinarian, was recently elected as chairman of the Georgia Agricultural Commodity Commission for Milk (ACCM).

For the last 20 years, Johnson has owned and operated Providence Dairy with his brother, Gary, and son, Matt, in Climax. Johnson has served on the ACCM Board for the last three years and believes that the state checkoff program will facilitate change in the near future that has been requested by Georgia dairy farmers for many years.

“Today’s ACCM Board is committed to looking for new avenues to enhance fluid milk sales in Georgia,” said Johnson. “The members of ACCM are business-minded and are using those skills to make decisions concerning checkoff dollars collected from our state’s dairy farms.”

Johnson hopes to improve support of the organization and bring transparency to money spent locally and nationally through dairy checkoff organizations.

“We are governed by the [Agriculture] Commissioner, and ultimately the Governor, to ensure that state checkoff funds are used in the most beneficial way to enhance producer returns and improve milk consumption. We want Georgia producers to know that we are producers like them, facing the same issues they are, and we want results from these programs to be measurable, relevant, and productive.”

Johnson wants to foster more conversation among producers and allow them the opportunity to share comments or ideas on their checkoff programs.

Paul and his wife, Ginger, have three sons and five grandchildren. Johnson is also a board member of the Decatur County Farm Bureau, serves as chair for the Georgia Dairy Conference Planning Committee and as a member for the American Farm Bureau Federation’s Animal Care Issue Advisory Committee.

Reprinted from the September Georgia Milk Review