Edward Avalos is the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs at the United States Department of Agriculture. He serves under United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack. His visit will focus on supporting rural America with a spotlight on farmers and ranchers. He intends to visit the Payne County Fair stating it demonstrates the heart of agriculture and provides a great avenue to talk about farmers feeding the country, keeping farmers on the farm, future generations in farming and creating opportunities in rural communities.
The open forum will take place at the Payne County Expo Center’s DL Fisher Sales Coliseum, located three miles east of Stillwater on State Highway 51. The forum will begin at 4:30 p.m. and end about 5:30 p.m. Avalos expects to speak for 20 minutes about current agricultural issues and then take part in a question-and-answer session while visiting with participants.
Avalos provides leadership and oversight for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service which addresses animal and plant pests and diseases; the Agricultural Marketing Service, which provides standardization testing and marketing of commodities and specialty crops; and the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, which promotes marketing of livestock, cereals and meats, as well as fair trade practices.
Mr. Avalos grew up on a family farm in the Mesilla Valley of Southern New Mexico. He has over 30 years of experience working with producers, shippers, distributors, processors, retailers and other stakeholders to develop domestic and international markets for livestock and agricultural products.
In addition, Mr. Avalos has worked on “buy local” initiatives, Indian agriculture and numerous promotional and trade activities with industry organizations and other stakeholder groups.
Mr. Avalos holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees in Agriculture from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico.
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