Chris Baptista

Arizona Department of Agriculture

Vision Statement To serve as a leader in ensuring consumer protection, advancing Arizona agriculture, and safeguarding agricultural commerce. Mission Statement To protect the health and safety of Arizona consumers, advance and support Arizona agriculture, and safeguard commerce. What We Do The Department of Agriculture was created in the 1990s to bring together separate boards that oversaw and protected agriculture, business and public health. In the 2010s, the Arizona State Legislature moved the Department of Weights and Measures and the Office of Pesticide Management into the Department. They became Department Divisions. Staff oversees 50,000 licensed professionals, conducts 12,500 inspections and completes more than 5,000 laboratory tests. The department makes sure food is grown, raised and processed to protect public health before the food reaches the grocery store or restaurant. Consumers are protected with inspections of scales, gas pumps, fertilizer and seed content to name a few duties assigned to the department. The Department also ensures that people using pesticides are well-trained to protect people, pets and plants. Inspectors keep plants and animals protected from diseases with regular checks of imported products.