Thursday March 28th, 2024 7:55PM

Harper sole Republican candidate for agriculture commissioner

Republican state Sen. Tyler Harper is the sole Republican candidate running for agriculture commissioner, and he believes his family history of farming makes him uniquely qualified for the job. 

"I'm running for Ag commissioner to continue to fight for our farmers, our producers [and] our consumers," Harper told WDUN's Newsroom. Touting his background as a "seventh-generation South Georgia farmer," his family has worked the same piece of land for 125 years. 

Incumbent agriculture commissioner Gary Black is seeking the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate after serving in the post for three terms. 

Harper, who was first elected to the Georgia senate in 2012, thinks it's essential that the person who holds the office know what it's like to be a farmer. 

With a nearly $74 billion impact, Agriculture is Georgia's largest industry. According to the Georgia Farm Bureau, one in seven Georgians works in a field related to agriculture. In recent years, farmers suffered devastating losses following hurricanes that impacted the state. 

"I think through that we learned some lessons, the disaster programs that are in place on the federal level to help in situations like that a very important," Harper explained, adding that the state should play a more significant role in distributing relief dollars. "Timely execution and delivery of that disaster assistance is crucial," he said.

Harper believes there's a mountain of issues facing farmers, including accessing capital and worker shortages. 

He also says the effects of the war in Ukraine also impact farmers. "Input costs for the farm are skyrocketing, fertilizer prices are skyrocketing, which in turn causes those costs to be increased at the retail level at the grocery store," he explained. According to Harper, farmers see only a small fraction of their products' retail money. 

The 2017 U.S. Agriculture Census found the number of small farms, those between 10-179 acres, decreased. While mid-size and large farms saw only a "slight increase."

Harper said controlling "undue burdens" in the form of regulations and taxes would go a long way toward helping smaller farming operations in Georgia. 

"We've got to continue to ensure that we have a voice in the room and a seat at the table," he said. "We're gonna fight every day to ensure that we're putting those farmers, producers and our consumers first because, at the end of the day, the Department of Agriculture touches every Georgian every single day."

Harper will face one of the three Democrats running for the job. Albany state Rep. Winfred Dukes, Dacula resident Nakita Hemingway, and Fred Swann, the party's 2018 nominee for agriculture commissioner. 

One Libertarian, David Raudabaugh, is also running. 

  • Associated Categories: Homepage, Local/State News
  • Associated Tags: Election 2022, Tyler Harper, Agriculture Commissioner
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