OCILLA – Near here is the home of Tyler Harper, Georgia’s Commissioner of Agriculture, who is more than an established politician.  He is a businessman and a farmer who picks and sings country music along with a few gospel favorites at Satilla Baptist church where his family have been members for generations.

The week of the annual Georgia-Florida game in Jacksonville, Tyler hosts a gathering which brings about a grand ole time, “Pig pickin’ and politickin,’” which is a campaign fundraiser that been going on for years.  People come from near and far to enjoy a supercalifragilistic outing and support a native son who has made them proud.

It is easy to understand why Tyler has been so successful at so many ventures and activities. He has a down-home, easy-going style which has enabled him to relate to people in all walks of life.  He belongs to that society which would get your ox out of the ditch.

He plays the piano with a captivating flair; he picks a guitar with harmonizing aplomb and is at home on a tractor, at board meetings, the Grand Ole Opry, Rock Eagle, and the hedges of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium.   He can outwit a wizened Tom turkey with the best turkey callers in South Georgia, and if a 12-point buck or a mallard duck comes into view in November, Tyler will collect another trophy and stock his freezer.  He glories in helping prepare dinner for friends that features deer meat—especially fried venison cube steak.

Recently, I visited his South Georgia farm where he was a genial and informative host as we rode around his property where we moved about cotton fields, peanut patches, woodlands, and pastures.   He is expert at raising beef cattle with angus and brahma cattle dominating his drove.  As he admired his livestock, which he has branded, he answered an offhand question about cattle rustling, which he explained still exists.  As you might expect, it is done by computer. Nothing like a John Wayne movie, however.

Forever the good neighbor, it is ingrained in him to extend a helping hand.  That has been a way of life in these parts for six generations when his ancestors settled here.  Learning such values began with his grandparents and was handed down by his parents Elecia and D. W. Harper who are also wed to the land although his dad is something of an agribusiness entrepreneur.  Like Tyler, they are well known and highly regarded around the state.

Tyler can tell you what the hot topics are for the farmers in Georgia—from fluctuating markets to soil erosion to labor shortages to water scarcity.

It is his job to address the needs of farmers across the state and provide leadership in helping his fellow farmers achieve success economically.  

Unfortunately, bad weather can bring about the need for damage control which he could do without, such as devastating tornadoes, floods and droughts, and more recent Hurricane Helene.   “That has been at the top of his agenda for some time now,” says Director of Communications for the Georgia Department of Agriculture, Matthew Agvent.  “When farmers hurt, Tyler hurts.”

As a farmer, Tyler benefits from programs that enhance the bottom line of those who make a living from the soil—but there is more to his agricultural bent. 

Tyler is a good neighbor who wants to help bring about good things for his state and those who tend the soil.  Nobody has promoted the concept of “Georgia Grown,” products more enthusiastically than Tyler who is a proponent of preach what you practice.  

With contacts and friendships across Georgia, he is always on the move.  He might jump down from his tractor and drive his Ford pickup truck 20 miles west to Tifton for a meeting on short notice.  When he has business in Atlanta, where he maintains an office, he will stop along the way and counsel a farmer with a problem or happens to produce the highest yield per acre of some crop—congratulating him and subsequently sharing the tenets of his success with other farmers across the state.   

He might take out his guitar and bring about an impromptu social that leaves everybody in a good mood.  He is always tuned in to the needs and interests of farmers and agribusiness men and women along the way.  Yes, there are women farmers—in fact 35% of Georgia farmers are women.  Four per cent of the state’s farmers are black, a relatively low number, but ranks Georgia fifth in the nation.

It is obvious that Tyler wears many hats although he is most at home with a baseball cap with a “John Deere” logo or a cowboy style hat.  When the Botanical Gardens of Georgia invited Tyler and other officials, representing Georgia Grown products, to their annual ball in 2024, there was the Commissioner of Agriculture dressed in a black tie and a black cowboy hat.   That is the essence of this versatile man who is at home with the rich and famous but also the everyday man who brings food to our table.

When he was in high school, he was a 4-H clubber and a member of the FFA (Future Farmers of America).  He played baseball and was the pitcher for Ocilla’s slow pitch softball team, “The Misfits,” who won national and world championships.

He is fond of his days in Athens when he was a member of the agricultural fraternity, Alpha Gamma Rho, on South Milledge Ave.  He could walk to football, basketball and baseball games and did—for most of all Bulldog contests.   He gets excited any time he goes “back to Athenstown.”  

It is important, too, that it be known that when UGA wins a championship Tyler does his best to be in attendance.  Seeing Kirby Smart win his first national championship at Indianapolis remains a highlight of Tyler’s life.

Maintaining a relationship with the University’s College of Agriculture and the Cooperative Extension Service comes natural for a person with his role as the leading agricultural statesman in the state.

The constant in his “official” life is touting the remarkable reputation of Georgia Grown products.  

Georgia ranks No. 1 in several categories including:

• Broilers with 1.38 million head
• Peanuts, 1.65 million tons (nearly one half of nation’s production)
• Pecans, 142 million pounds (roughly 30-40% of nation’s supply
• Naval Stores, over 80% of world’s supply (Valdosta claims to be the Naval Stores capital of the world.”)

The state ranks No. 2 in cotton production (after Texas), eggs, and watermelon.  Georgia comes in third in production of blueberries, corn and peaches.  We are no longer No. 1 in peach production which we were for decades, but peach growers say that the quality of Georgia peaches is still the best.

Not only is Georgia the only place where Vidalia onions are grown, spring onions can only be called “Vidalia’s” in the 13-county region and parts of seven others.  Not sure how many states offer quail hunting, but if you want to experience the best in stalking a whistling Bob White, you can best enjoy that experience in Thomasville.

The view of this county boy is that he lives in the “best state” in the country and that he ran for office to support initiatives that keep Georgia a leader with its products that give farmers bragging rights and a horn of plenty that make Georgians the best fed of any state in the nation.