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LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The New Mexico Department of Agriculture (NMDA) has hired Les Owen to serve as its new Deputy Director/Secretary. Owen returns to NMDA – where he previously worked in natural resources policy planning – after serving as the Conservation Services Division Director at the Colorado Department of Agriculture for eight years.

Over the course of his career, Owen has held positions as a 4-H agricultural extension agent and as a research associate in what is now New Mexico State University's Department of Animal and Range Sciences. Owen has dedicated much of his career to effective agricultural land use and range management, energy development, soil and water conservation, wildlife habitat and endangered species conservation, as well as the management of natural resources in support of agriculture through communication, coordination and collaboration with federal, state and local government agencies and organizations.

Owen was raised on his family's ranch near Corona, New Mexico.

"We're glad to welcome Les back to the New Mexico Department of Agriculture," said New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte. "Les brings a deep understanding of the agriculture industry here in New Mexico and across the region. His experience providing oversight and coordination of a multitude of agricultural efforts at the local, state and federal levels sets a solid foundation for his work as Deputy Director/Secretary of NMDA."

"I'm proud to have served the New Mexico Department of Agriculture in natural resource management and now be able to return in a different capacity, at the head of the agency's leadership," said Owen. "It's an honor to lead NMDA alongside Secretary Witte and ensure that the agency fulfills its mission in the best interest of New Mexico's agriculture industry and all of its constituents."

Owen joined NMDA Oct. 1 at its Las Cruces main office.