The USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) has announced the appointment of five leaders in agriculture to serve on the Colorado USDA Farm Service Agency (FSA) state committee. 

Members of the FSA state committee are appointed by Secretary of Agriculture Brooke L. Rollins and, in support of the Trump Administration’s Farmers First commitment, members of the FSA state committee are responsible for the oversight of farm programs and county committee operations, resolving program delivery appeals from the agriculture community, maintaining cooperative relations with industry stakeholders and keeping producers informed about current FSA programs. 

Each FSA state committee is comprised of three to five members including a designated chairperson. The individuals appointed to serve on this committee for Colorado are:

• Donald Cleo Brown, Chair (Yuma) – Brown operates a multi-generational farm and ranch producing irrigated and dryland crops and managing yearling and feedlot cattle programs. He previously served as Colorado Commissioner of Agriculture, leading regulatory reform and national agricultural policy initiatives and has served in various roles in state and national agricultural organizations.
• Darrell Mackey, Member (Springfield) – Mackey is a fifth‑generation farmer operating a dryland wheat farm, practicing continuous wheat farming with careful soil management, fertilization, and herbicide applications to maintain productive yields. He is a licensed crop insurance agent, who helps producers navigate federal crop insurance programs in multiple states.
• Kyle Dean McConnell, Member (Haxtun) – McConnell operates a fourth-generation family farm across multiple counties. He holds degrees in agriculture and serves on the Colorado Corn Growers Association board.
• Joeseph Petrocco, Member (Thornton) – Petrocco is vice president of a fourth-generation vegetable operation focused on sustainability, labor efficiency, and advanced production techniques. He has served on the Colorado Fruit and Vegetable Growers Association Board of Directors as vice president and has expertise in innovative irrigation, crop management and food safety practices.
• Steve George Raftopoulos, Member (Craig) – Raftopoulos is managing member of an open-range sheep production across private, state, Bureau of Land Management, and U.S. Forest Service lands in Colorado and Wyoming. He is past president of the American Sheep Industry Association and former chairman of the Wool Council and Lamb Council.

Said FSA Administrator Bill Beam, “Their appointment to the FSA state committee is a testament to their standing in the industry and their dedication to the agriculture industry, rural America and President Trump’s America First, Farmers First policies.”

FSA helps America’s farmers, ranchers and forest landowners invest in, improve, protect and expand their agricultural operations through the delivery of agricultural programs for all Americans. FSA implements agricultural policy, administers credit and loan programs, and manages conservation, commodity, disaster recovery and marketing programs through a national network of state and county offices and locally elected county committees. For more information, visit fsa.usda.gov