In the state governments of the United States, all 50 states have the executive position of agriculture commissioner, director of agriculture, or secretary of agriculture. This official is in charge of the state's agriculture department. The agriculture commissioners are organized at the national level by the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.
The agriculture commissioner is elected in 12 states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina, Texas, and West Virginia. The powers and duties of the office vary from state to state, but are often substantial: in about 40 states, agriculture departments regulate the animal industry, and in roughly half the states, agriculture departments regulate food safety and meat inspection.Louis Jacobson, Where Have All the Democratic Agriculture Commissioners Gone?, Governing (February 26, 2016). In some states, the agriculture commissioner has more power. For example, in Florida the agriculture commissioner is one of four members of the Florida Cabinet (along with the governor, chief financial officer, and attorney general), giving the commissioner some influence over state policy beyond agriculture. In North Dakota, the agriculture commissioner sits on a number of important boards, such as the North Dakota Industrial Commission (which oversees the state-owned North Dakota Mill and Elevator and Bank of North Dakota).
Departments StateOfficeholderTitleTerm startPartyAlabama Department of Agriculture and IndustriesCommissioner January 14, 2019Republican Party Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Division of AgricultureDirector February 10, 2023NonpartisanArizona Department of AgricultureDirector June 26, 2023Nonpartisan Arkansas Department of AgricultureSecretary2015Nonpartisan California Department of Food and AgricultureSecretaryJanuary 12, 2011NonpartisanColorado Department of AgricultureCommissionerDecember 21, 2018Nonpartisan Connecticut Department of AgricultureCommissioner March 29, 2019Nonpartisan Delaware Department of AgricultureSecretaryJanuary 25, 2017Nonpartisan Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer ServicesCommissionerJanuary 3, 2023Republican Party Georgia Department of AgricultureCommissioner January 12, 2023Republican Party Hawaii Department of AgricultureCommissioner March 31, 2023Nonpartisan Idaho Department of AgricultureDirector January 23, 2023Nonpartisan Illinois Department of AgricultureDirector February 28, 2020NonpartisanIndiana State Board of AgricultureDirector January 8, 2018NonpartisanIowa Department of Agriculture and Land StewardshipSecretaryMarch 1, 2018Republican Party Kansas Department of AgricultureSecretary January 14, 2019Nonpartisan Kentucky Department of AgricultureCommissioner January 1, 2024Republican Party Louisiana Department of Agriculture and ForestryCommissioner January 14, 2008Republican PartyMaine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and ForestryCommissioner 2019Nonpartisan Maryland Department of AgricultureSecretaryJanuary 18, 2023NonpartisanMassachusetts Department of Agricultural ResourcesCommissioner March 6, 2023Nonpartisan Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development Director March 27, 2023NonpartisanMinnesota Department of Agriculture Commissioner January 7, 2019Nonpartisan Mississippi Department of Agriculture and CommerceCommissioner April 2, 2018Republican PartyMissouri Department of AgricultureDirector January 29, 2017NonpartisanMontana Department of AgricultureChristy ClarkDirector January 31, 2022Nonpartisan Nebraska Department of AgricultureDirector December 5, 2017NonpartisanNevada Department of AgricultureJennifer OttDirector March 4, 2019Nonpartisan New Hampshire Department of AgricultureCommissioner December 9, 2017Nonpartisan New Jersey Department of AgricultureSecretaryMarch 22, 2024Nonpartisan New Mexico Department of AgricultureSecretaryMay 2011NonpartisanNew York State Department of Agriculture and MarketsCommissioner January 9, 2014Nonpartisan North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer ServicesCommissioner February 8, 2005Republican Party North Dakota Department of AgricultureCommissioner 2009Republican PartyOhio Department of AgricultureDirector January 31, 2023Nonpartisan Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and ForestrySecretary December 2018NonpartisanOregon Department of AgricultureDirector December 1, 2023NonpartisanPennsylvania Department of AgricultureSecretaryJanuary 20, 2015Nonpartisan Rhode Island Department of AgricultureCommissioner 1998Nonpartisan South Carolina Department of AgricultureCommissioner September 14, 2004Republican PartySouth Dakota Department of AgricultureHunter RobertsSecretaryApril 19, 2021Nonpartisan Tennessee Department of AgricultureDr. Charlie HatcherCommissioner January 19, 2021Nonpartisan Texas Department of AgricultureCommissioner 2015Republican PartyUtah Department of Agriculture and FoodCraig ButtarsCommissioner January 5, 2021Nonpartisan Vermont Agency of Agriculture Food and MarketsSecretaryJanuary 5, 2017Nonpartisan Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer ServicesCommissioner January 15, 2022Nonpartisan Washington State Department of AgricultureDirector June 15, 2015Nonpartisan West Virginia Department of AgricultureCommissioner January 16, 2017Republican PartyWisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer ProtectionSecretarySeptember 28, 2021Nonpartisan Wyoming Department of AgricultureDirector March 15, 2015Nonpartisan
References