HB493: HB493 State symbols; pineywoods cattle as official Georgia heritage cattle breed; designate

This bill adds a new symbolic designation to Georgia law. It amends the part of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated (O.C.G.A. Title 50) that lists official state symbols, adding pineywoods cattle as the official Georgia heritage cattle breed. The bill opens with a long list of legislative findings explaining why: pineywoods cattle have been raised in Georgia and the Southeast since the 1500s by European settlers and Native American tribes including the Cherokee and Creek, the breed became naturally heat tolerant and disease resistant, and it was used for farm labor, beef, and dairy. The findings note the breed is now listed as threatened, with only a few Georgia family strains (Holt, Purvis, Albany, and Popple) remaining. The bill creates a new Code section, O.C.G.A. § 50-3-94, stating simply that pineywoods cattle are the official Georgia heritage cattle breed, and repeals any conflicting laws.

• Adds a new Code section, O.C.G.A. § 50-3-94, designating pineywoods cattle as the official Georgia heritage cattle breed.
• States legislative findings describing the history, traits, and current threatened status of the pineywoods cattle breed in Georgia.
• Repeals any existing state laws that conflict with this new designation.

The designation mainly affects the small number of Georgia families and ranchers who raise purebred pineywoods cattle strains, along with heritage livestock conservation groups. It does not impose new duties, costs, or regulations on the general public or businesses.

The bill gives official state recognition to a historic, now-threatened cattle breed with deep roots in Georgia and Southeastern Native American and settler history. It carries symbolic weight for heritage preservation but does not change any regulations, funding, or enforcement.

• Section 1 lists ten legislative findings on the history, adaptability, and threatened status of pineywoods cattle in Georgia.
• Section 2 adds O.C.G.A. § 50-3-94, stating that pineywoods cattle are the official Georgia heritage cattle breed.
• Section 3 repeals any conflicting laws, a standard closing provision with no substantive effect here.

1. 2025-04-04House Withdrawn, Recommitted (House)
2. 2025-03-03House Committee Favorably Reported (House)
3. 2025-02-20House Second Readers (House)
4. 2025-02-19House First Readers (House)
5. 2025-02-18House Hopper (House)

• Jutt Howard (R, HD-071)Primary sponsor
• David Huddleston (R, HD-072)
• Jason Ridley (R, HD-006)
• Danny Mathis (R, HD-133)
• Jaclyn Ford (R, HD-170)
• Martin Momtahan (R, HD-017)

• state symbols
• heritage cattle
• Georgia agriculture history
• livestock conservation