Candidate Biography (submitted by campaign):

Commissioner Steve Troxler was elected as North Carolina's Commissioner of Agriculture in 2004.

Commissioner Troxler is owner and operator of Troxler Farms, a family-owned farming operation north of Greensboro.

Troxler has held leadership positions in a variety of agricultural and community organizations, including the North Central Farm Credit Association, the Guilford County Soil and Water Conservation District, Guilford County Farmers Organization; the Guilford County Extension Advisory Board; the State Extension Advisory Council at N.C. State University and N.C. A&T State University, the North Carolina Tobacco Settlement Phase II Entity and the Guilford County Farm Bureau.
In addition, he was a century member, director and secretary of the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina.

Troxler is active in the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, serving as chair of the Tobacco Task Force and vice chair of the Food Regulation and Nutrition Committee. He also serves on the boards of the N.C. Foundation for Soil and Water Conservation, the Rural Economic Development Center and the N.C. Biotechnology Center. He is a member of numerous organizations, including the N.C. Tobacco Research Commission and the Southern United States Trade Association.

He has received the Outstanding Young Farmer award from the North Carolina Jaycees, the N.C. Agricultural Extension Service Outstanding Service Award, and the Conservation Guardian Award from the Guilford County Soil Conservation Service.  His family was named Tobacco Farm Family of the Year by the Tobacco Growers Association of North Carolina.

A Browns Summit native, Commissioner Troxler received his B. S. degree in Conservation from N.C. State University in 1974.  He and his wife, Sharon, have two sons, Jeremy, a Methodist minister, and Shawn, an attorney. Jeremy and his wife, Margaret, live in Mebane. Shawn and his wife, Lauren, live in Raleigh. 

When I was inaugurated as Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Services, I outlined a few goals I wanted to meet. First of all, I set out to restore the respect, integrity and public confidence in the Department of Agriculture. Secondly, I wanted to help mold the Department of Agriculture into the best in the nation.

We are a long way toward achieving these goals, but the job is not done.

My top priority if I am re-elected as your Commissioner of Agriculture will be to insure a safe food supply for all our citizens in North Carolina.

I am also running to continue some important initiatives for our agricultural products begun since I became Commissioner. We have launched a major promotional campaign known as the "Got To Be NC" marketing program. This has become a national award-winning program. As a result of the Got To Be NC campaign our North Carolina agricultural products are now available to the public in all the major grocery chains across the state.

Farmland preservation is vital to our agricultural industry, and has been another area I have focused on since I became Commissioner. With our ever-increasing population in North Carolina, it is important to protect our natural resources that grow food and fiber. It is also important to insure that farmers will be working in the future to maintain our ability to feed ourselves, which is strategically important to our nation.

We have also dealt with serious threats to the health and safety not only of agriculture but of all North Carolinians. Weather is always a chief concern in agriculture, and we have seen everything from hurricanes and floods to droughts.

Additionally I believe I have earned the respect of my employees and other leaders in state government.

I would appreciate your vote for another term as your Commissioner of Agriculture.