James_May-June_2026_web - Flipbook - Page 47
oing back to the
colonial days
of Georgia’s
founder James
Oglethorpe, agriculture has been
the dominant
industry in the state. The industry
contributes nearly $100 billion to the
state’s economy, with a farm gate
value at nearly $20 billion. Consider that there are more than 40,000
farms in the state, sitting on nearly
10 million acres of land.
Very famously, the state is home
to numerous peanut farms— not all
usually owned by a president, but
the state is also tops in the country
for broilers (chickens), pecans, blueberries and spring onions. The state
is also in the top five for cotton, watermelon, peaches, eggs, cucumbers,
tomatoes and a number of other
crops. On the livestock side, besides
the chicken, there are cattle farms,
horse farms, even alligator farms.
Nearly 400,000 people are employed
in the agricultural sector.
Trying to wrestle this giant industry into some cohesion, the Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA)
works to support Georgia farmers
and producers, protecting consumers and the state’s food supply, as
well as marketing Georgia products
locally, nationally and internationally.
Not only do they regulate animals,
food, plants and soil, they also oversee fuel and pesticides.
Tyler Harper is the GDA's commissioner, just the third since 1969.
His predecessor, Gary Black, took
over in 2011 from Tommy Irvin, who
PHOTO COURTESY OF GEORGIA PEANUT COMMISSION
had served as commissioner for 42
years. The popular Georgia Grown
initiative started under Black, and
Harper has led the way to take it to
the next level. What began as the
marketing arm of the Georgia Department of Agriculture and a way to
brand certified Georgia growers has
grown to become a major force of its
own in Georgia business and culture.
Georgia Grown last fall opened
its first dedicated retail space, the
Georgia Grown Signature Shoppe,
on Jekyll Island. The shop offers a
curated selection of locally sourced
goods and products, notably on
one of Geogia’s most visited tourist
destinations. It is the first brick-andmortar location for Georgia Grown,
a permanent retail version of the
successful marketplaces at the
Georgia National Fair in Perry and
the Sunbelt Expo in Moultrie.
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