(The Center Square) – Over the past two years, Georgia’s agriculture community has battled hurricanes, wildfires and drought.
Agriculture is the state’s No. 1 industry, adding $70 billion annually to Georgia’s economy, according to the Agriculture Department. But natural disasters are a real threat to the economic output and survival of Georgia’s farms.
“You can plant on time, spray on time, water on time, you can harvest on time,” said Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper in an interview with The Center Square. You can raise your livestock and have it all in the right seasons and do all of that at the right time, but you can still lose everything.”
Statistics illustrate how tough it can be for Georgia farmers. The Georgia Farm Bureau reported that 27 farm operations filed for bankruptcy in 2025, up from 11 in 2024.
Harper took office in January 2023, a year and a half before Hurricane Helene hit parts of Georgia in September 2024, causing $5.5 billion in damage.
“That’s going to take years to get over,” Harper said in an interview with The Center Square. “Those were generational losses and losses that we haven’t seen in quite some time, especially when you look at the forestry and you look at the pecans and other things that we lost during that storm.”
Georgia received $531 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to assist farmers affected by Helene through block grants.
“Our block grant program is moving along quite well,” Harper said. “We’re working to get those dollars out in the hands of producers this fall to help them continue to get on their feet, to continue to recover.”
Georgia’s farmers also experienced drought for several months beginning at the end of 2025 and extending into 2026.
“Our farmers are working through that,” Harper said. “They’re resilient. We won’t really understand the full impact of some of the drought conditions until later this year as harvest begins.”
A new agreement with the federal government allows Georgia’s livestock producers to sell across state lines.
“To sell across state lines, you have to be USDA approved or stamped with a USDA stamp,” Harper said. “If you don’t have that, you can’t sell across state lines. Thankfully, our friends on the federal level saw fit to open up opportunities to those that are held to those same standards to be able to sell across state lines, just like the federally stamped facility will do.”
The agreement opens up competition, he said.
“If you look right on the supply chain, 85% of the beef packed in America is packed by four companies, 40% of the pork packed in our country is packed by one company, basically,” Harper said. “And of those five companies, only two of them are American-owned companies.”
The Agriculture Department’s Georgia Grown program promotes local farmers, giving them a seat at the table, Harper said. The cyclospora outbreak is a perfect example of why people should look for Georgia or American producers, he said.
“It was a Mexican-grown, Mexican-produced product,” Harper said. “And it just goes to show that the standards we hold our farmers to, our food suppliers, food operations and processing facilities are a higher standard.”
Harper oversees the department’s operations and an $84.7 million budget, according to the appropriations bill signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in May. The Agriculture Department does more than oversee livestock, crops and food safety.
The law enforcement division investigates animal abuse daily, according to Harper. One example is dogfighting.
In June, the department seized 23 dogs believed to have been involved in dog fighting in rural Crawford County. One man was charged with illegal dogfighting and also faces separate gun and drug charges, according to the department. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office and the Peach County SWAT team assisted in the arrest.
“The Crawford County case is a perfect example of work that our team did working with the local law enforcement, our state prosecutors and others to put that case together,” Harper said.
