Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development Elects New Officers

Lansing – January 28, 2015 – (RealEstateRama) — The Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development elected new officers for the 2016-2017 year during its regularly scheduled meeting held at Constitution Hall in downtown Lansing.

The new slate of officers is:

Chair: Fred Walcott
Walcott works alongside his parents and two sisters on their family farm – Valley View Pork, LLC – a 4,000 acre farm raising hogs, producing corn, wheat, and soybeans.

Vice Chair: Dru Montri
Montri owns and operates Ten Hens Farm, a year-round farm in Bath. Montri is also committed to regional food system work. She has been the director of the Michigan Farmers Market Association since its inception in 2006.

Secretary: Bob Kennedy
Kennedy works for The Anderson’s as their Area Manager. He also owns and lives on a small farm in Saginaw County with his wife and two children, and is an active hunter and fisherman.

“I appreciate the enthusiasm of these individuals to serve Michigan’s growing food and agricultural community,” said Jamie Clover Adams, director, Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. “The state’s food and agriculture economy is ripe with opportunity and the members of the Commission are partners in helping those opportunities bear fruit.”

The Michigan Commission of Agriculture and Rural Development is a bipartisan board appointed by the Governor with the responsibility to recommend and, in some cases, determine, policy on food, agriculture, and rural development issues.

For more information on the Commission, go to http://www.michigan.gov/mdard/0,4610,7-125-1572_2878—,00.html

Media contact: Jennifer Holton, 517-284-5724