The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) is a state government agency of Georgia responsible for regulating food, fiber, animals, and the agricultural workforce in the state, and for promoting Georgia's agricultural industry. Established in 1874, it is the oldest state department of agriculture in the United States. The department is headed by an elected Commissioner of Agriculture, currently Tyler Harper, and is headquartered in Atlanta.
History The Georgia Department of Agriculture was created by the Georgia General Assembly on February 28, 1874, to assist the state's agricultural industry, which had struggled in the years following the American Civil War. Governor James M. Smith endorsed the bill creating the department, which passed the Georgia House of Representatives only after Speaker Augustus O. Bacon cast a tie-breaking vote. Physician Thomas P. Janes was appointed as the first Commissioner of Agriculture, serving from 1874 to 1879. The office became an elected position in 1890, when R. T. Nesbitt defeated incumbent J. T. Henderson.
Unlike most Georgia executive agencies, which operate under the authority of the governor, the Department of Agriculture is headed by an independently elected commissioner who serves a four-year term. Tommy Irvin, commissioner from 1969 to 2011, was the longest-serving statewide elected official in Georgia history.
In 2024, the department marked its 150th anniversary with a series of public events, including a celebration at the Georgia State Capitol.
Organization and functions As of 2024, the department had more than 550 employees across more than 20 divisions, including Animal Industry, Food Safety, Fuel and Measures, Agricultural Inputs, Plant Protection, Law Enforcement and Emergency Management, Laboratory, Licensing, Legal, Policy, Communications, Grants, Human Resources, Information Technology, and Georgia Grown, the department's marketing arm.
The department regulates and inspects grocery stores, food warehouses, bottling and food processing plants, gasoline quality and pump calibration, weights and measures, pesticides, structural pest control, meat processing plants, seed quality, fertilizer, animal feed, and pet dealers and breeders, among other areas. It also markets Georgia agricultural products domestically and internationally through its Georgia Grown program. Since 1917, the department has published The Farmers and Consumers Market Bulletin, a newspaper distributed in print and online editions.
Georgia is among the nation's leading producers of poultry, pecans, peanuts, eggs, and rye, and is the second-largest cotton-producing state; the Vidalia onion, grown in South Georgia, is also regulated by the department.
List of commissioners The following is a list of Georgia Commissioners of Agriculture: # Name Term of Service Political Party1Thomas P. Janes1874–1879Democratic2J. T. Henderson1879–1890 Democratic3Robert Taylor Nesbitt1890–1898 Democratic4O. B. Stevens1899–1905 Democratic5Thomas G. Hudson1905–1912Democratic6James J. Conner1912Democratic7James D. Price1913–1917Democratic8J. J. Brown1917–1927Democratic9Eugene Talmadge 1927–1933Democratic10G. C. Adams1933–1935Democratic11Tom Linder1935–1937Democratic12Columbus Roberts1937–1941Democratic13Tom Linder1941–1955Democratic14Phil Campbell1955–1969Democratic (1955–1968) / Republican (1968–1969)15Tommy Irvin1969–2011Democratic16Gary Black2011–2023Republican17Tyler Harper2023–presentRepublican
References
External links
First Commissioner of Agriculture historical marker