The West Virginia Department of Agriculture is a government agency of the U.S. state of

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

History

The Department of Agriculture was founded in 1891 as the West Virginia State Board of Agriculture. In 1911, the

West Virginia Legislature The West Virginia Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of West Virginia. A bicameral legislative body, the legislature is split between the upper Senate and the lower House of Delegates. It was established under Article VI o ...

created the modern department.

Organization

The West Virginia Department of Agriculture is managed by the agriculture commissioner, an elected official operating independently of the

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

's authority. Kent Leonhardt has served as the commissioner of the department since January 2017. Previous commissioners have included

Walt Helmick Walt D. Helmick (born March 25, 1944) is an American businessman and Democratic Party politician who served as the Commissioner of Agriculture of the state of West Virginia. He was elected to the position in 2012, defeating Republican nominee Ken ...

Gus Douglass Gus R. Douglass (February 22, 1927 – March 19, 2015) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party, who served as Agriculture Commissioner of West Virginia for 44 years. First elected to that post in 1964, he served from 1965 to ...

, and

Cleve Benedict Cleveland Keith Benedict (born March 21, 1935) is an American politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served one term in the United States House of Representatives for West Virginia's 2nd congressional district from 1981 to 1983. Lif ...

References

External links

* State departments of agriculture of the United States State agencies of West Virginia {{WestVirginia-stub