David J. Frederickson (born March 2, 1944) is an American politician who served as Commissioner of the

Minnesota Department of Agriculture Minnesota ( ) is a state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the south, and Nor ...

from January 2011 to 2019, and previously as a member of the

Minnesota Senate The Minnesota Senate is the upper house of the Minnesota Legislature, Legislature of the U.S. state of Minnesota. At 67 members, half as many as the Minnesota House of Representatives, it is the largest upper house of any State legislature (Unite ...

from West Central Minnesota from 1987 to 1993.

Early life and education

Born in Murdock, Minnesota, Frederickson graduated from

St. Cloud State University St. Cloud State University (SCSU) is a public university in St. Cloud, Minnesota, United States. Founded in 1869, the university is one of the largest institutions in the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities system. In the fall of 2023, it ...

, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Education. A fourth-generation farmer, he earned a reputation as a strong advocate for farmers and agricultural issues, education and tax reform.

Career

Minnesota Senate

First elected to the Senate in 1986 in the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party’s “firestorm” that swept through the region, giving Democrats unprecedented control of southwestern Minnesota for the next several election cycles, Frederickson served two terms. He was re-elected in 1990. He represented the old District 20A, which included all or portions of Chippewa,

Lac qui Parle Lac qui Parle is a lake located in western Minnesota, United States, which was widened by the damming of the Minnesota River. The dam was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1939. It was reconstructed in 1996. "Lac qui Parle" is a ...

Redwood Sequoioideae, commonly referred to as redwoods, is a subfamily of Pinophyta, coniferous trees within the family (biology), family Cupressaceae, that range in the Northern Hemisphere, northern hemisphere. It includes the List of superlative tree ...

Swift Swift or SWIFT most commonly refers to: * SWIFT, an international organization facilitating transactions between banks ** SWIFT code * Swift (programming language) * Swift (bird), a family of birds It may also refer to: Organizations * SWIF ...

and

Yellow Medicine Yellow Medicine could refer to two distinct things in the U.S. state of Minnesota: * Yellow Medicine River, a river * Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota Yellow Medicine County is a County (United States), county in the southwestern part of the ...

counties. While in the legislature, Frederickson was a member of the Senate Agriculture and Rural Development, Education, Local and Urban Government, Taxes and Tax Laws and Governmental Operations committees, and of various sub-committees relevant to each area. He chaired the Agriculture and Rural Development Subcommittee on Agriculture Resources during the 1991 and 1992 sessions.

Farmers Union

After Frederickson's service in the legislature concluded, he was elected president of the Minnesota Farmers Union, serving from 1991 to 2002. In 2002, he was elected president of the National Farmers Union, a national federation of State Farmers Union organizations in the United States and the second largest general farm organization in the country, serving until 2006. In 2009, he received the NFU’s Meritorious Award for his years of service on behalf of Minnesota and American farmers. He worked as an Agricultural Outreach Director for

U.S. Senator The United States Senate is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and House have the authority under Article One of the ...

Amy Klobuchar Amy Jean Klobuchar ( ; born May 25, 1960) is an American politician and lawyer serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Minnesota, a seat she has held since 2007. A member o ...

from 2007 to 2010.

Agriculture Commissioner

On December 21, 2010, Minnesota Governor-elect

Mark Dayton Mark Brandt Dayton (born January 26, 1947) is an American politician who served as the List of governors of Minnesota, 40th governor of Minnesota from 2011 to 2019. He served as a United States Senate, United States Senator representing Minneso ...

announced that Frederickson would be the state's new commissioner of agriculture, succeeding long-time commissioner and former state representative Gene Hugoson, who held the position since 1995. He took over the department on January 3, 2011.

References

External links

Minnesota Department of Agriculture: Commissioner David FredericksonDavid Frederickson at National Farmer's UnionDavid Frederickson at National Farmer's Union Pt. 2
{{DEFAULTSORT:Frederickson, David 1944 births Living people People from Swift County, Minnesota State cabinet secretaries of Minnesota State agriculture commissioners in the United States Democratic Party Minnesota state senators Farmers from Minnesota St. Cloud State University alumni People from Roseville, Minnesota 20th-century members of the Minnesota Legislature