Gov.-elect Eric Greitens announced Tuesday he has selected Chris Chinn as the next director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture.
"Not everyone recognizes the important role of agriculture in Missouri. Activists and bureaucrats have attacked our farmers and ranchers. They've come after our family farms with crippling regulations (from Washington and Jeff City), reckless lawsuits, and political threats," Greitens said in an announcement on Facebook.
"Chris is a fighter who cares deeply about our farmers because she is one. She's fought hard for her family farm and for the tradition it represents. Now, she's ready to fight for you."
Chinn and her husband are fifth-generation farmers who raise hogs, cattle, corn, soybeans and hay on their farm in northeast Missouri, according to Greitens.
Chinn, whom Greitens refers to as "an outsider and a champion for agriculture," has spoken throughout the country as an advocate for farm families and "sharing the values that make farming such a vital profession."
She was recognized in 2013 as one of the U.S. Farmers & Ranchers Alliance's Faces of Farming & Ranching, an honor given to four farmers in the United States.
"She understands that we have a great opportunity before us," Greitens said. "We need to double world food production in the next generation. Missouri's farmers and ranchers can lead the way. They can meet that challenge and make the state of Missouri a national leader in food production."
Chinn will replace Richard Fordyce, whom Gov. Jay Nixon appointed as the department's director in late 2013.
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My Farm, My Story: Chris Chinn