Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2-A
-Second Front
i nH|H| ISI " i*fPi'*
Senator Herman Talmadge, running hard for re-election in
1980, is shown here during a farm rally in Perry last Friday
morning conferring with Houston Farmers Tommy Kersey
(left) and Sidney Bledsoe, who was the organizer of the rally.
At Big Perry Farm Political Hally Friday
Farmers Support Talmadge
By Bobby Branch
HHJ Publisher
If Herman Eugene
Talmadge’s political
power is on the skids in
Georgia as many say it
is lt wasn't apparent
on the Bledsoe Farms
just outside of Perry last
Friday morning as the
venerable senior Senator
gathered with some of his
staunchest supporters,
the farmers of Houston
County.
The meeting was called
a farm political rally and
that is what it was.
Farmers embraced
Talmadge, told him their
problems and got his
word for help in
Washington.
Sidney Bledsoe, one of
the organizers of the
rally, told The Home
Journal, “Senator
Talmadge is one of the
w- ** sSI
* a" yflfcc m ~ v^St-xl
<
* mm
wtHmmßfk . r . IWW\
Bi A I
Greeting An Old Friend
G. Francis Nunn of Perry talks with his long-time friend Senator
Herman Talmadge while the senior Senator was in Perry attending a
farm rally on his behalf last Friday morning at the Bledsoe Farm. Mr.
Nunn is President of George C. Nunn & Son, the Case tractor dealer in this
area. (Photo by Frank Russo)
Senator Talks With Houston Farmers
few men left in
Washington that is trying
to help the farmers. Most
of the politicians up there
don’t even have farmers
in their districts and don’t
really care much for our
plight. We need Senator
Talmadge and his im
portant position as
chairman of the Senate
Agriculture Committee.”
Later in the morning
Talmadge shucked his
coat and put out his long,
black cigar to talk to the
farmers about the
problems they are
having.
Talmadge said, “The
last time 1 walked the
fields of Houston County,
every drop in the field
was bur ned up with one of
the worst droughts this
state has ever seen. At
that time, we went to
work getting disaster
Kersey is head of the Georgia American Agriculture
Movement and Talmadge is chairman of the powerful Senate
Committee on Agriculture. Talmadge received a warm
reception here from area farmers. (Photo by Frank Russo)
loans for farmers and the
assistance they needed.”
The Senator went on to
say, “I can tell you right
now the farmer has a
friend in Washington in
Herman Talmadge. I will
work as hard as I can for
the farmers and their
interest and I know very
well it is difficult for
farmers to make it even
in a good year. But we
must all keep on trying
and working for better
conditions and prices.”
Tommy Kersey, a
Henderson farmer and
leader of the Georgia
American Agriculture
Movement, ask,ed
Talmadge about Far
mers Home Ad
ministration loans that
were pending. He said
some Houston County
farmers needed
payments to pay rent on
land due on Jan. 1, but
HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1979
that the FHA was not
scheduled to make the
payments until later in
the year.
The Senator answered,
“Anytime you deal with
the Federal bureaucracy,
it is like pouring molasses
out of a jar on the coldest
day of the winter. The
FHA is no exception.
Some of the people over
there are good, dedicated
Federal employees and
some of them ain’t so
good. We make contacts
with the FHA every day
on behalf of farmers and I
will tell you that if any of
you have a problem with
that call my office and
we’ll get right on it.”
Talmadge went on to
point out the importance
of agriculture and agri
business in Georgia. He
noted that agriculture
accounts for 60 percent of
all the jobs in the state.
He further noted that
much farm legislation
falls on deaf ears in the
U.S. House of
Representatives where
he says half of the
members do not even
have a farm in their
district. He said it is
somewhat better in the
Senate but not much.
The 65 year old senior
senator told the farmers.
“This is going to be the
roughest race I’ve had in
my 23 years in the Senate.
The Atlanta Newspapers
are out to beat me in any
way they can. They’ve
decided it is the end of
Herman Talmadge and
they are working hard
against me. I need your
help to win this cam
paign. It is going to be a
tough fight.”
And it looks as though
Senator Talmadge has
the support of the far
mers. They don’t have
anyone else to turn to,
according to one farmer
standing in the crowd ...
He said, “Don’t nobody
else much care but ole’
Herman and I hope we
can get him elected
again.”
As the crowd began to
leave, a slightly stooped
Talmadge, showing his
age, walked briskly
through a muddy field
and climbed into a car
taking him to yet another
political stop in Perry
and to Warner Robins
later in the day to
dedicate the County
Complex. Herman is
running wide open, no
doubt about it.
- H -r- '
‘Mr. Charlie’ Tells Senator Like It Is
One of Houston County’s leading and most
outspoken farmers, “Mr. Charlie” Kersey is
shown here talking over problems of the farmer
with U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge at a farm
rally for the Senator on the Bledsoe farm here
last Friday morning. “Mr. Charlie” was telling
Sale Os Kersey Farm
May Reflect Plight
Facing Many Farmers
By Bobby Branch
HHJ Publisher
If the average person
has difficulty putting the
plight of Houston County
farmers and farmers
from all over the United
States into the proper
perspective, perhaps the
recent action by the
Kersey family of Hen
derson, led by the
patriarch, “Mr. Charlie”
Kersey, can serve to put
the problem into focus.
The Kersey family runs
one of the biggest farm
operations in Houston
County, maybe the
biggest. Recently the
family sold all but 1,000
acres of the nearly 5,000
acres they have farmed
for the past 40 years.
“Mr. Charlie” told The
Home Journal he sold the
farm through a Memphis,
Tenn., real estate agent
and that as far as he
knows it was purchased
by foreign interests. He
says he does not actually
know who bought the
farm but that he has
already cashed the down
payment check and it was
good.
Why did Kersey sell?
“We made a lot of
peanuts, corn, soybeans,
squash, hogs, and cattle
this year. We made the
maximum to the acre and
it was supposed to be a
bumper year, yet we are
still going to lose about
$75,000 this year on our
overall crops,” Kersey
said.
He pointed out that he
was getting about the
same price per ton for
peanuts as he did 20 years
ago. He noted that a
combine to pick the crops
cost thousands of more
dollars now than 20 years
ago and that fertilizer
and chemicals were up
five fold in price.
"Mr. Charlie”, who is
well known for his hard
line philosophy on the
Federal Government,
said, “I believe the
President and the oil
companies are doing all
they can to drain this
country and get complete
control. The government
controls the interest rates
we pay and the oil
companies make it im
possible for farmers to
make it. Just look, the oil
companies control the
fertilizerand chemical
companies and a lot more
companies that deal with
farmers. I think it is all a
big conspiracy and I just
don’t see how we can
fight it every year by
continuing to lose money
on our farm operation.
That's why we sold out.
A C of C Welcome
U.S. Senator Herman Talmadge is greeted
here by Perry Area Chamber of Commerce
President Bob Richardson during a rally for the
senator held on the Bledsoe Farm near Perry
last Friday morning. (Photo by Frank Russo)
the Senator how he has just sold most of his more
than 4,000 acre farm at Henderson to foreign
investors because he has found it impossible to
make a profit in the farming business. See
related story.
(Photo by Frank Russo)
The Federal Government
forced us to.”
Kersey said the new
owners will actually take
over his farm operations
next May. When asked
how the new foreign
owners could show a
profit if he could not,
Kersey said he just didn’t
know. “Maybe they don’t
need to show a profit,” he
said.
Few people may not
realize it, but with the
sale of the Kersey Farm
dynasty to foreign in
terest, an era in farming
in Houston County and
Georgia is coming to a
close. It just could be the
start of a trend forced on
farmers by hard-times,
low prices, rising ex
penses and a Congress
that may be coming with
too little too late for the
American farmer.