New Ag Commissioner & Disaster Assistance

New Ag Commissioner & Disaster Assistance. I'm Greg Martin with Colorado Ag Today.

Lacy Gray starts us off today with an announcement. Lacy.

Thanks Greg. Gov. Hickenlooper recently announced that Don Brown will be the new Commissioner of Agriculture, effective Feb. 17. He replaces John Salazar who recently retired, after having served since 2011. Brown will lead the department's daily operations, direct its 300 employees and oversee the agency's seven divisions. Brown is a third-generation farmer in Yuma County and has run several successful businesses while spending most of his career managing and growing his family's extensive farm operations. He's also been active in water conservation, energy development and technology innovation issues within the industry.

Thanks Lacy. Also in the news, USDA has designated 9 counties in Colorado and their contiguous counties as primary natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by a recent drought. Those counties are:

Baca, Crowley, Lincoln, Bent, Kiowa, Otero, Cheyenne, Las Animas and Prowers.

The designation qualifies farm operators in the designated areas to be eligible for low interest emergency loans from USDA's Farm Service Agency, provided eligibility requirements are met. Farmers in eligible counties have eight months from the date of the declaration to apply for loans to help cover part of their actual losses.

And that's Colorado Ag Today. I'm Greg Martin, thanks for listening on the Ag Information Network of the West.