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FRANKFORT,
Ky. — Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer
has appointed Michael Judge Executive Director of the
Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Office of Agriculture
Marketing and Product Promotion. Judge had been
Director of the Division of Agriculture Marketing and
Agribusiness Recruitment since February. He replaced
Brian Furnish, who accepted a position in the Governor's
Office of Agricultural Policy.
“The
Department is very fortunate to have someone of Mike
Judge's quality already on board to fill this key position,”
Commissioner Farmer said. “He will direct the
marketing office's efforts to advise consumers about
our great Kentucky Proud food products.”
Prior
to working at the Department of Agriculture, Judge was
the agriculture department chair
and
director of University Farms at Eastern Kentucky University.
He managed the farm and taught mostly agribusiness-related
courses. The farm was managed much as a commercial
operation while incorporating teaching and research
activities.
Judge
was professor and director in EKU's Agriculture Department
from July 1981 to May 2003. Prior to that, Judge
was a vocational agriculture teacher at Scott County
High School.
Judge
earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the University
of Kentucky. He is a graduate of Nicholas County High
School.
A
native of Nicholas County, Judge resides in Richmond
with his wife, Kelly, a controller for a Winchester
business. Judge has two sons, Joshua, 25 and
Caleb, 22, and two stepdaughters, Niki, 24, and Justine,
19.
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