Georgia Magazine - December 2023 - 8

Georgians AT WORK By H.M. Cauley
Meet Ag Commissioner Tyler Harper
T
yler Harper's family has been growing peanuts and cotton
for seven generations.
" I grew up turning my parents' carpets into a farm with
little toy tractors then graduated to driving the big ones, " he
says. " Agriculture has always been a passion of mine. "
The 37-year-old Irwin County resident credits that deeprooted
connection to the soil with driving him to run for and
be elected as the state's agriculture commissioner. He became
Georgia's 17th agriculture commissioner in January and helms
the oldest state department of agriculture in the U.S.
The job wasn't his first foray into politics. Studying agricultural
engineering at the University of Georgia in Athens, he
worked for U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss' agriculture committee.
" I got bit by the political bug, " Harper says. " I went back to
the farm after college and stayed involved in the political arena. "
His first big opportunity came in 2012, when he ran for
state senator and won. At 26, he was sworn in to represent 10
counties in South Georgia; he held that seat for 10 years. When
the commissioner's spot opened up, Harper saw the right
opportunity at the right time.
" I'm a farm boy who enjoys politics and thought it would
be a neat job to serve the state and the industry I love, " he says.
" Agriculture is the state's No. 1 industry, and I can help inform
consumers of the importance of that industry and the value of
buying [things that are] Georgia-grown. "
Harper's job is varied and broad; it entails overseeing
multiple facets of ensuring food safety, monitoring animal
health, verifying weights and measures, licensing pest-control
companies, regulating fertilizers, inspecting gas pumps,
8 Georgia Magazine December 2023
Top: Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper is a seventhgeneration
farmer and has a lifelong passion for agriculture.
Above: Harper bottle-feeds a calf at his family farm in Ocilla.
checking fuel quality and supporting farms and agribusiness
owners.
" We also have an emergency-management team that
handles issues related to agriculture, " he says. " For instance,
we've done a lot with animal health in the last few years to
ensure we're keeping avian influenza at bay as much as
possible. But a lot of what we do is in the background; most folks
don't know the role we play every day. I want to do a better job
of telling our story. "
To that end, Harper travels the state to learn about and
explain how agriculture impacts life in Georgia. He was in Perry
for the state livestock show; has shown up at local fairs and
the annual pet-adoption event at the Governor's Mansion in
Atlanta; competed against other states' ag commissioners at the
Sunbelt Ag Expo cow-milking contest in Moultrie; and plans to
speak at the 2023 Farmer Appreciation Breakfast in Lowndes
County this month.
One place he says he doesn't see often enough is his own
1,500-acre farm in Ocilla.
" I don't get to ride the tractors as much as I used to, " he
says. " I do what I can on the weekends when I get home. Th at's
when I can get on the tractor and ride around the cow pastures.
Th at's still my passion. "
H.M. Cauley is a freelance writer from Atlanta.
COURTESY GEORGIA DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Georgia Magazine - December 2023

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