| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE | CONTACT: Ron Zellar |
| September 29, 2003 | (406) 444-3144
TTY (406) 444-4687 |
Director Peck Elected to NASDA Position
HELENA, Mont. — Ralph Peck, director of the Montana Department of Agriculture, was elected secretary-treasurer of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture at NASDA's annual meeting this week in Boise, Idaho.
The selection means that Montana is in line to host the NASDA annual meeting in the fall of 2007.
The Montana director will continue to serve as the U.S. co-chair of the United States/Canada Working Group, a trade-issues committee of agricultural leaders working under the Tri-National Agricultural Accord between the United States, Canada and Mexico. He also co-chairs an ad hoc NASDA committee working to resolve differences between state and federal regulations governing warehouses and grain merchandising companies.
Peck is a past president of the Western Association of State Departments of Agriculture and the Western United States Agricultural Trade Association.
He says he seriously considered running for Montana secretary of state in 2004, but decided instead to continue his efforts on behalf of agricultural industries in Montana. Peck was first appointed state director of agriculture in 1996 by Governor Marc Racicot, and was reappointed to the position by Governor Judy Martz in January 2001.
