Don Brown | |
---|---|
Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture | |
In office 2015–2018 | |
Governor | John Hickenlooper |
Preceded by | John Salazar |
Succeeded by | Kate Greenberg |
Personal details | |
Born | Yuma,Colorado | December 29,1954
Spouse | Peggy Brown |
Education | |
Profession |
|
Don Brown (born December 29, 1954) is an American politician, farmer, and businessman who served as the commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture from 2015 to 2018. Brown is a third generation farmer from Yuma County, Colorado. During his tenure as Commissioner of Agriculture, he spearheaded the agriculture extension for the Colorado Crisis Hotline.
Don Brown was born in Yuma, Colorado on December 29, 1954, where he was then raised on a family farm. [1] He attended Yuma High School and graduated there in 1973. [1] Brown was then elected Colorado Future Farmers of America (FFA) president, serving from 1973 through 1974. [1]
Brown enrolled at Northeastern Junior College (NJC) in 1974. At NJC, he served as president of the Associated Student Government from 1975 to 1976. [2] He graduated from NJC with a degree in agriculture, then transferred his credits to Colorado State University. [3] At CSU, Brown graduated with honors in vocational agriculture education. [3]
During his time at CSU, Brown was a legislative intern for Colorado Senate president Fred E. Anderson. [2]
In January 2015, Colorado governor John Hickenlooper, appointed Brown to his cabinet to be the commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture (CDA). [4] The Colorado Senate approved the appointment of Brown on Feb. 17, 2015. [3] The appointment came after John Salazar retired from the commissioner role in early 2015. [5] Brown completed his tenure as Governor Hickenlooper completed his final term, in 2018. [4]
At the Colorado Department of Agriculture, Brown spearheaded a program to train Colorado Crisis Services operators how to help agriculturalists that were experiencing a mental health crisis. [6] His work in the mental health space was honored with the 2018 Tribute Honorary Chair for Mental Health Colorado. [7] Brown also served as president of the 13-state Western United States Agricultural Trade Association and vice chair for the Food Regulatory Committee for the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture. [2]
In August 2017, Don's CDA and Colorado Proud launched "Faces and Stories of Colorado's Agriculture." [8] The program was created to help Coloradans "feel more connected to farmers and their food sources." [8] Panels and other outreach strategies were sent out across the state to display and discuss agriculture realities. [8]
Brown is a third-generation farmer, just southeast of Yuma, Colorado. He took over the operation of the farm and ranch after the accidental death of his father in 1993. [1] Since assuming management of the operation, the Browns have expanded their family operation tenfold. [2] Brown's practices have led him to serving as the president of the Yuma County Cattlemen’s Association and his farm being named the Yuma Soil Conservation Outstanding Conservationists in 1999. [3] [1]
Brown's farming has led him down business paths and ventures that turned into successful businesses. He is the founder of Pivotal Fencing Systems, which developed two patents for their technologies. [2] Brown was also an early participant in horizontal drilling, forming Anchor Production LLC to develop and purchase oil and gas projects. [2]
Colorado State University is a public land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado State University is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". It was founded in 1870 as Colorado Agricultural College and assumed its current name in 1957.
Kenneth Lee Salazar is an American lawyer, politician, and diplomat who is the United States ambassador to Mexico. He previously served as the 50th United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was a United States Senator from Colorado from 2005 to 2009. He and Mel Martínez (R-Florida) were the first Hispanic U.S. senators since 1977; they were joined by Bob Menendez in 2006. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, he served as Attorney General of Colorado from 1999 to 2005.
John Tony Salazar is an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Colorado's 3rd congressional district from 2005 until 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed Commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture in the Cabinet of Governor John Hickenlooper in 2011, following his electoral defeat in 2010. Salazar announced his retirement as Agriculture Commissioner in November 2014.
John Wright Hickenlooper Jr. is an American politician, geologist, and businessman serving as the junior United States senator from Colorado since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 42nd governor of Colorado from 2011 to 2019 and as the 43rd mayor of Denver from 2003 to 2011.
Franciscus Henricus Johannes Joseph "Frans" Andriessen was a Dutch politician of the defunct Catholic People's Party (KVP) and later the Christian Democratic Appeal (CDA) party and businessperson who served as European Commissioner from 6 January 1981 until 6 January 1993.
Harlan Andrew Romanoff is an American politician and public servant. A Democrat, he was a member of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2001 to 2009, serving as Speaker of the House from 2005 to 2009. He was the Democratic nominee for Colorado's 6th congressional district in 2014 and twice sought the Democratic nomination for the United States Senate. He began his career at the Southern Poverty Law Center, founded the Posner Center for International Development, and has led two nonprofit organizations: Mental Health Colorado, and Great Expectations. On January 16th, 2024, he was named Executive Director for Disability Law Colorado, a non-profit legal and advocacy organization which advocates for and provides legal representation for people with disabilities.
Jim Hume MBA FRSA ARAgS HonAssoc BVA is a former Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) of the South of Scotland region from May 2007 to March 2016. He is currently Director of Public Affairs & Communications at Change Mental Health and Convenes the National Rural Mental Health Forum.
Jerry Sonnenberg is an American farmer and politician who serves on the Logan County commission. He served in the Colorado Senate from the 1st district as a member of the Republican Party. During his tenure in the state senate he served as the President pro tempore. Prior to his tenure in the state senate he served in the Colorado House of Representatives from the 65th district.
Michael Farrand Bennet is an American attorney, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Colorado, a seat he has held since 2009. A member of the Democratic Party, he was appointed to the seat when Senator Ken Salazar became Secretary of the Interior. Bennet previously worked as a managing director for the Anschutz Investment Company, chief of staff to Denver mayor John Hickenlooper, and superintendent of Denver Public Schools.
The 2010 Colorado gubernatorial election was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2010 to elect the Governor of Colorado, who would serve a four-year term that began in January 2011. One-term incumbent Democrat Bill Ritter announced that he would not run for re-election in 2010. Dan Maes, backed by the Tea Party movement, won the Republican nomination in the primary with 50.6% of the vote and a 1.3% margin over rival Scott McInnis. In claiming victory, Maes called on former representative Tom Tancredo, running as the Constitution Party's nominee to "stop your campaign tonight." Denver mayor John Hickenlooper was unopposed for the Democratic nomination. Hickenlooper won the race with over 50% of the vote.
Karl-Josef Laumann is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). Since 2017, he has been the State Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of North Rhine-Westphalia, an office he previously held between 2005 and 2010.
Joseph A. Garcia is an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 48th Lieutenant Governor of Colorado from January 2011 to May 2016. He is currently the chancellor of the Colorado Community College System.
The Colorado Department of Agriculture is the principal department of the Colorado state government that manages agriculture, food safety, agriculture-related consumer protection, and conservation districts. Kate Greenberg was appointed as Commissioner of the Department in 2019, replacing Don Brown, who retired after serving since 2015.
The Task Force on the Implementation of Amendment 64 was a task force of the U.S. State of Colorado charged with considering and resolving a number of policy, legal and procedural issues relating to Colorado Amendment 64, which allows for personal use and regulation of marijuana.
Marlene Mortler is a German politician of the Christian Social Union in Bavaria (CSU) who has been a Member of the European Parliament since 2019. She was a member of the German Parliament from 2002 until 2019. She also served as Commissioner on Narcotic Drugs at the Federal Ministry of Health in the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel from 2014 until 2019.
Marguerite Salazar was an American government official serving as the superintendent of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department from January 2019 until her death in November 2022. Salazar was previously the insurance commissioner of Colorado from July 2013 to 2017 and the chief regulator of Colorado from July 2017 to January 2019.
The 2018 Colorado gubernatorial election took place on November 6, 2018, to elect the next governor of Colorado. Incumbent Democratic governor John Hickenlooper was term-limited and could not seek a third consecutive term. The primary election was held on June 26.
The 2020 United States Senate election in Colorado was held on November 3, 2020, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Colorado, concurrently with the 2020 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate, elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
A general election was held in the U.S. state of Colorado on November 6, 2018. All of Colorado's executive offices and all seven of its seats in the United States House of Representatives were up for election. Democrats swept the statewide offices up for election, leaving the Class 2 U.S. Senate seat as the last statewide office held by a Republican.
Farmers' suicides in the United States refers to the American farmers taking their own lives, largely since the 1980s, partly due to their falling into debt, but as a larger mental-health crisis among U.S. agriculture workers. In the Midwest alone, over 1,500 farmers have taken their own lives since the 1980s. It mirrors a crisis happening globally: in Australia, a farmer dies by suicide every four days; in the United Kingdom, one farmer a week takes their own life, in France it is one every two days. More than 270,000 farmers have died by suicide since 1995 in India.