DON AMENT
Commissioner of Agriculture
Colorado Department of Agriculture

Don Ament was appointed Commissioner of Agriculture January 12, 1999, by Governor Bill Owens.  Don served twelve years in the Colorado General Assembly, chairing the Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Energy Committee and the Capital Development Committee. Prior to his election to the State Legislature Don served for five years on the State Board of Education, four of them as chairman.  He also served fourteen years on the RE-1 Valley School Board in Sterling, and is a former president of the Colorado Association of School Boards.

Nationally, Ament chaired the American Legislative Exchange Council’s Task Force on Agriculture, and is considered an expert in areas of water and property rights.  Currently he serves as Chair of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) Natural Resources and Pesticide Management Committee, President of the Western Association of State Departments of Agriculture (WASDA), and is the Governor’s appointee as Colorado’s representative on the Tri-State Platte River Governance Committee with Nebraska and Wyoming.

Commissioner Ament’s day to day activities include the leadership and support of the Department of Agriculture, representing agriculture on boards and commissions, and promoting the importance of the agricultural industry and the role it plays in preserving our quality of life.  Don supports innovative ideas to increase and improve production agriculture and the utilization of computer technology to improve the states’ e-commerce.

Ament has lived his entire life in Colorado, graduating with an engineering degree from the University of Colorado.  Don continues to farm and ranch in Northeast Colorado.  He and his wife, Patty, have three grown children, and five grandchildren.