Mike Teets Files for Ag Commissioner; Pledges Fresh Ideas, New Direction

Press Release - January 24, 2012

Lost River, WV - Mike Teets of Lost River, WV, filed today for the position of West Virginia Commissioner of Agriculture.  Currently, Teets is the only Republican to announce for commissioner, a position held for nearly half-a-century by retiring Democrat Gus R. Douglass. The primary election is May 8 with the general election to follow on Nov. 6.

A lifelong farmer, Teets started his own farm in 1973.  Today, he and his son, Matthew, are partners in Teets Farms.  In addition to farming, he has served as a county commissioner for 15 years in Hardy County, West Virginia’ largest agricultural county.

Teets’ unique combination of skills and experience set the stage for an agenda that will emphasize “fresh ideas, new directions.”  At the top of the agenda Teets pledges to stand up to federal and state agencies that propagate “unnecessary and even detrimental” regulations on the agriculture industry.

“Farmers and rural landowners all across the nation are under assault by an overactive EPA.  Agriculture needs leadership that will stand up for the rights of our rural and urban citizens,” Teets emphasized.

Teets also addressed conservation issues.  “I will lead the effort to protect West Virginia’s precious resources. With only limited resources available, we must not let politics guide our decisions on programs to protect our air, water and soil. As Commissioner, I will make sure we pursue conservation efforts based in science, not ideology or politics,” he said.

Other items on Teets’ agenda include:

• Modernize and expand food safety programs, laboratories and facilities to assure that West Virginia has a safe and affordable food supply.
  
  
• Careful management of resources using proven business strategies
  
  
• Collaborate with the Legislature and state agencies whose missions overlap with Agriculture’s to help reduce duplication of programs and expenditures.
  
  
• Expand access to locally grown foods in urban areas by increasing the number and profile of farmers’ markets and encouraging farmers to produce the most popular food products.

As a lifelong farmer, I understand the importance of having a farmer lead the department, and I look forward to bringing my lifetime experience in agriculture to the challenges that lie ahead,” he concluded.

Teets and his wife, Joyce Godlove Teets, have two children -- Matthew, and Tina Teets Keplinger, DVM, who is a practicing veterinarian and owner of Lost River Animal Hospital.