Texas Department of Agriculture

The main offices of the Texas Department of Agriculture are located on the 11th floor of the Stephen F. Austin State Office Building

The Texas Department of Agriculture (TDA) is a state agency within the state of Texas, which is responsible for matters pertaining to agriculture, rural community affairs, and related matters.

TDA was established by the 13th Texas Legislature in 1907. TDA is headed by the Texas Agriculture Commissioner, one of four heads of state agencies which is elected by statewide ballot (and the only one where the provision for statewide election is mandated by legislative action, not enshrined in the Texas Constitution) for a four-year term, concurrent with the gubernatorial election (prior to 1978, the term was two years before a statewide amendment in 1974 extended it to four years). John C. White is the longest-serving Agriculture Commissioner in Texas history, with 26 years of service (1951-1977): having been elected in 1950 and reelected in 1952, 1954, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1966, 1968, 1970, 1972 and again in 1974.

The department is headquartered on the 11th floor of the Stephen F. Austin State Office Building at 1700 North Congress Avenue in Austin.[1][2]

The mission statement of the Texas Department of Agriculture is: Partner with all Texans to make Texas the nation's leader in agriculture, fortify our economy, empower rural communities, promote healthy lifestyles, and cultivate winning strategies for rural, suburban and urban Texas through exceptional service and the common threads of agriculture in our daily lives.

Texas Department of Agriculture
Agency overview
Formed 1907
Headquarters 1700 N Congress, 11th Floor Austin, Texas
Employees 650
Agency executive
Website http://www.TexasAgriculture.gov

Commissioners of the Department of Agriculture

NOTE: Milner was appointed as Commissioner prior to the first statewide election in 1908.

Commissioner Beginning Term Year Ending Term Year
Robert Teague Milner 1907 1908
Edward Reeves Kone 1908 1914
Fred Davis 1915 1920
George B. Terrell 1921 1930
James E. McDonald 1931 1950
John C. White 1951 1977
Reagan V. Brown 1977 1982
Jim Hightower 1983 1990
Rick Perry 1991 1998
Susan Combs 1999 2006
Todd Staples 2007 2015
Sid Miller 2015

Divisions

The department is divided into the following divisions:

References

Texas Department of Agriculture

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, February 09, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.