Tyler J Harper is Georgia’s 17th Agriculture Commissioner, a 7th generation farmer, a small businessman, and a proud native of rural South Georgia. A lifelong resident of the Peach State, Harper is a champion for Georgia’s #1 industry, the farm families who fuel its success, and all of rural Georgia. He knows that for Georgia’s farmers and producers, agriculture is more than just a job or a hobby – it is our way of life. Harper grows peanuts, cotton, and timber and runs a small cow-calf operation on land that has been in his family for over 100 years in Irwin County, Georgia.
The Georgia Agriculture Commissioner is elected statewide by the people of Georgia and plays a vital role in protecting consumers and ensuring the continued success of Georgia agriculture – the state’s largest industry, employing nearly 400,000 Georgians and contributing $91.4 billion to our state’s economy each year. The Agriculture Commissioner is charged with overseeing the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s wide-ranging operations and has a broad mandate to “to examine and investigate any matter relating to or affecting the welfare of farmers and consumers of the state.”
Since being sworn in as Commissioner in January 2023, Harper has helped deliver numerous wins for Georgia farmers and consumers and the state’s #1 industry. These include establishing the Georgia Farmland Conservation Fund; banning Adversarial foreign nations, like China, from buying Georgia farmland; restoring the Georgia Department of Agriculture’s status as a Law Enforcement Agency; protecting Georgia consumers and children by establishing much needed guardrails for consumable hemp products. At the same time, Harper has worked closely with the General Assembly to increase funding for the Department to improve operations, investing in new technology, increase staff salaries, and better serve Georgia farmers and consumers. At the Commissioner’s direction, the Georgia Grown program has entered into exciting new partnerships with the Atlanta Braves and University of Georgia Football and was recently named the title sponsor of the “Georgia Grown Bowl” played annually between Georgia State and Georgia Southern.
From 2012-2022, Harper represented Southeast and South-Central Georgia in the State Senate where he served in leadership on the Public Safety, Natural Resources, and Agriculture and Consumer Affairs Committees. Harper sponsored dozens of pieces of legislation to benefit farmers and rural Georgia that became law. These include Right to Farm, expanding Agricultural Education opportunities, improving rural healthcare, expanding rural broadband access, reducing tax burdens on farmers and producers, and more.
Harper’s passion for Georgia agriculture started on the family farm where he learned to drive on his grandaddy’s Massey Fergusson 135 as a boy. He was actively involved in Georgia 4-H and Georgia FFA during his childhood and continues to champion both programs. Harper is a proud graduate of both Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and the University of Georgia College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences. He has held leadership positions in numerous organizations from his local Rotary club to the Georgia Young Farmers Association.
Commissioner Harper is an avid hunter, musician, and pilot – rated for both fixed wing and rotor aircraft. When he is not working at the family farm or in his capacity as Commissioner, you can find Commissioner Harper enjoying the outdoors, in the cockpit, or at Satilla Baptist Church – where he still plays in the band on Sundays when is at home. Harper is a proud Uncle to his nieces Lily and Penelope and nephew Crawford.