James March-April 2025 web - Flipbook - Page 14
After a decade in the Senate, though, he began to
wonder if this was where he should stay or go back and
focus on the farm business. “Or,” as he put it, “might there
be another opportunity in politics?”
Then in 2022, Harper recalls, “I got a call from Sonny
Perdue— another mentor like Roberts— who told me that
Gary Black was leaving as agriculture commissioner to
run for the U.S. Senate and that I should consider running
to replace him.” So another opportunity arose. His family and friends encouraged him to run for the post in the
Republican primary that year— a big step for a political
unknown in most of the state. “I was the only Republican
who qualified to run for commissioner in an open statewide seat. It’s amazing.” And he won.
THE AG LEADER AND THE MISSION
Harper says he’s honored to be charged with overseeing over 500 employees with a mission of supporting, as
he says “our farm families, ranchers and producers to help
them be successful producing food and fiber for Georgians. We ensure our food supply is safe and food supply
chains continue to stay intact. We ensure that the interactions consumers have with convenience and grocery
stores, or even when going to a gas pump, provide confidence in the product they pay for.”
“Our food safety team works to ensure that our products and food processing facilities are kept safe. We over-
see entities like the livestock industry and meat processing. And our laboratory network plays a phenomenal role
in testing feed, food, dairy, chemicals— you name it.”
“We are currently testing peanut seeds that will be
planted later this year,” he continues. “We make sure our
pest control businesses are safely operating. We work
to remove unwanted honeybee nests that people find
in their homes. We have a protection team that protects
plants and works to eradicate invasive species.” As an example, he said “we work on eradicating the yellow legged
hornet. Our plant protection team is working to eradicate
that hornet which was first found in 2023 in North America. And we have eradicated over 50 nests in the last two
years and kept them contained in the Savannah area. It’s
still a work in progress.”
THE GEORGIA GROWN PROGRAM
When Harper took the helm, he inherited a thriving marketing/economic development program called
Georgia Grown that is administered by the department’s
marketing team. Its members enjoy benefits ranging from
exclusive advertising opportunities to training seminars
to learn ways to grow a business. Its 1,000-plus members
also have access to a big statewide database and website
which makes it easy to find farmers, markets and other
agribusinesses by product, location and audience.
Georgia Grown marketing focuses on telling the story
of Georgia agriculture. “We want consumers to know the
role we play, and we encourage consumers to buy Georgia Grown products,” Harper says. “You can even visit
a Georgia Grown farm. We also have a Georgia Grown
Innovation Center in Metter and will have one in Albany.”
He explained it is an incubator-type operation where a
team can work as a consultant with a farmer or potential
farmer at the local level. He also notes that the department will open its first Georgia Grown store on Jekyll
Island, hopefully this summer.
“We have phenomenal partnerships, and the Atlanta
Braves were one of the first to help showcase our products,”
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