Tyler Harper, Ga. Agriculture Commissioner speaking to White County Chamber Vision Series Photo Dean Dyer
(Cleveland)- Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper was the featured speaker at the latest presentation of the White County Chamber of Commerce’s Georgia Mountain Vision Series update held Friday in Cleveland.
The meeting was held at the SweetPea’s Event Venue in Downtown Cleveland.
The commissioner, a 7th-generation farmer, shared with the group about what his office does and how agriculture plays a vital part in the state’s economy. Harper said his office has many different duties from regulating to promoting the state’s number 1 industry.
He said, “ Agriculture brings us together” and their biggest challenge is what he described as bridging the farm to fork divide.
White County Chamber President Beth Truelove compared the state’s agriculture industry with what goes on in White County saying, “ Our largest economic output is also agriculture in White County, but it happens very quietly. Agriculture looks very different from manufacturing so you don’t think about it, you see a manufacturing facility, you see a distribution center but you don’t think about it when you drive by a farm and see a herd of cattle, this not only contributes to the quality of life that we all love in White County but also a significant economic output that makes living here great.”
“Of all the arts, tillage or agriculture is without doubt the most useful and the most necessary. It is the chief source from which the State is nourished. The cultivation of the soil increases greatly its produce, it constitutes the surest resource and the most substantial fund of wealth and commerce for ever people possessing a favorable climate.”
Livestock production has taken a hit in White County. Livestock production is the target of global warming policies. The Chamber of Commerce has a Vision of urbanization for White County and City of Cleveland. That is a nice passing thought by Ms. Truelove, but a lot of the small farms have now been converted into wineries,and tourism venues.