Governor Dennis Daugaard has appointed Mike Jaspers of rural Minnehaha County to serve as South Dakota’s Secretary of Agriculture. He operates a diversified farm in McCook, Hutchinson and Marshall counties. Jaspers served as a state legislator from 1997 to 2005 and was state director of USDA Rural Development. As a fifth generation farmer, he says one of his goals is to help South Dakota families retain ownership of farmland.

Jaspers also wants to help beginning producers get into the business and says the Governors livestock development initiative can assist with that.

He says it’s important for the state to work on land conservation and wildlife management as well as water quality, especially with the regulatory issues being experienced in states like Iowa.

Jaspers will begin July 5, 2016.