Ambrose, GA |
Agriculture wasn’t always part of Representative Angie O’Steen’s plan. But after marrying into a farming family in South Georgia, she quickly gained a firsthand appreciation for the industry — and the vital role it plays in rural communities across the state.
“I grew up in Jeff Davis County. I’m an only child, and I had never been on a farm before I married Danny,” O’Steen said. “I married Danny, went to nursing school, and started working on our farm — what I considered working, which was hauling tobacco for his daddy. His dad grew vegetables, peanuts, some corn, and tobacco.”
Now serving in the Georgia House of Representatives for District 169, O’Steen says those early experiences on the farm have shaped her perspective as a lawmaker and driven her to be a stronger voice for agriculture in Atlanta.
“I realized really quickly that there were a whole lot of relationships I was not a part of yet. Thankfully, I got placed on the Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committee, Public Health and Rural Development — all of those. I’m a nurse by trade, so I speak those languages,” O’Steen said. “But I realized that agriculture really didn’t have very many advocates in Atlanta.”
For O’Steen, effective advocacy means building relationships across the board — with colleagues from both parties, and even with the lobbyists who help inform legislation on complex issues.
“You have to make relationships on both sides of the aisle, whether Republican or Democrat. But you also have to make relationships with the lobbyists that are there,” she said. “In my experience, the lobbyists are our best friends, because you can’t be an expert in everything — even in agriculture. There are things going on in the state that I’m not aware of. When bills come up, they are great resources to help educate me and my colleagues on legislation that’s coming up, or even on concerns that may not be a bill yet.”
At the heart of O’Steen’s work in the legislature is a clear priority: protecting the family farm. With economic pressures continuing to mount for farmers and producers across the state, she knows the stakes firsthand.
“We’re not growing very much cotton this year because you can’t afford to lose several hundred dollars an acre before you ever even start growing it — you’re losing money before you even get it out of the ground,” O’Steen said. “My priority would be taking care of agriculture and working with my colleagues in the House who speak my language, and figuring out what kind of policy we can create to ensure the future of the farm.”
For a lawmaker who came to farming by way of marriage and a nursing career, Representative O’Steen has become one of agriculture’s most committed voices in the state capitol — and for Georgia’s rural communities, that advocacy couldn’t come at a more critical time.