Quarterly Luncheon

Tyler Harper

Tyler Harper is a 7th generation farmer, small business owner, former State Senator, and the 17th Agriculture Commissioner of the State of Georgia. Tyler lives in Ocilla and is a lifelong resident of South Georgia. He graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor's degree in Agricultural Engineering and has an associate's degree in agriculture from Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.

He is an active member in his local community and has helped lead organizations across the state - from his local rotary club, to the Georgia Young Farmers Association, among numerous others, including serving as the past Chair of the Southern Legislative Conference's Agriculture and Rural Development Committee. When he isn't serving the state as Agriculture Commissioner or working on his farm, you can find Tyler enjoying the outdoors, cheering on the Georgia Bulldogs, or at Satilla Baptist Church, where he plays in the band every Sunday. 

 About the Georgia Department of Agriculture: Originally created through an act of the Georgia General Assembly in 1874, the Georgia Department of Agriculture administers a variety of programs which all have a primary goal - to maintain the state's viable farm industry and protect the consuming public. The department is the oldest state Department of Agriculture, and GDA is only 12 years younger than the United States Department of Agriculture.

The department's mission is to provide excellence in services and regulatory functions, to protect and promote agriculture and consumer interests, and to ensure an abundance of safe food and fiber for Georgia, America, and the world by using state-of-the-art technology and a professional workforce.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture regulates, monitors, or assists with the following areas: grocery stores, convenience stores, food warehouses, bottling plants, food processing plants, pet dealers and breeders, animal health, gasoline quality and pump calibration, antifreeze, weights and measures, marketing of Georgia agricultural products domestically and internationally, pesticides, structural pest control, meat processing plants, seed quality, Vidalia onions, state farmers markets, plant diseases, nurseries and garden centers, fertilizer and lime, potting soil; feed, boll weevil eradication, apiaries, Humane Care for Equines Act, bottled water, and other responsibilities. The department publishes a bi weekly newspaper: The Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin, which is available online as well as in printed form.