Georgia agriculture commissioner briefs House committee on avian influenza response, hemp licensing and law-enforcement actions

At a hearing of the Georgia House Committee on Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, the state’s commissioner of agriculture, Tyler, gave an overview of recent department activity, emphasizing the emergency response to avian influenza (AI), ongoing hemp licensing work and several recent law-enforcement cases.

The update matters because the commissioner said poultry represents “a little over a third of our state agricultural economy,” and the department moved quickly after learning of an AI detection in a commercial flock. “We immediately activated our emergency operations center,” Tyler told the committee, and staff were on-site within 12 hours. The department established a control area of 6.2 miles (10 kilometers), tested more than 100 farms in that control area within 24 hours, and began depopulation and quarantine measures to limit spread.

Tyler said the response involved more than 150 people at times and remains ongoing, with cleaning and disinfection of affected locations continuing. He asked…