Jerry Prieto, Jr.

Fresno County Agriculture Commissioner Jerry Prieto, Jr., at right, is the FCFB 2008 Distinguished Service Award Recipient, pictured here with California Agricultural Secretary A.G. Kawamura to be honored at FCFB's Annual Banquet.

For more than 34 years, Jerry Prieto, Jr. has served the Fresno County agricultural community, acting as the County’s number one advocate for farmers and ranchers. Upon his upcoming retirement in June, the Fresno County Farm Bureau Executive Committee has selected Prieto, the Fresno County Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures, as the 2008 FCFB Distinguished Service Award recipient. The announcement was made at the April 3 Board of Directors meeting.

Prieto is no stranger to agriculture, having grown up on a family farm in Corcoran. He obtained his bachelor’s of science degree from California State University, Fresno in plant science. In 1974, he began working for the Fresno County Department of Agriculture, and after a few short years, he was promoted to the position of deputy agricultural commissioner in 1980.

In 1999, Prieto became the Agricultural Commissioner/Sealer of Weights and Measures, but not before he served as a senior personnel analyst with the Fresno County Personnel Department and Fresno County Resources Manager.

As Agriculture Commissioner, Prieto ran the department that is responsible for promoting and regulating the nation’s number one agricultural producing industry, protecting the county’s environment, and the public health, safety and welfare.

“Our Executive Committee thought Jerry is very deserving and we wanted to say thank you for all he’s done for the industry,” FCFB President Russel Efird said in making the announcement. “We respect the way he represents us.”

Prieto has been a hands-on agricultural commissioner. He served as the first chair of the California Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers Association’s Food Safety and Agriculture Security Committee, as well as leading that Association as president for two years. He also is a former member of Governor Davis' State Committee on Terrorism, and Western Weights and Measures Association Board of Directors. He served four years as chairman of the Fresno County Department Heads Council.

The Clovis resident is a member of Fresno County Farm Bureau and the Fresno County Council of Governments Farmland Conservation Steering Committee. He is the chair of the Fresno County Council of Governments Farmland Preservation Advisory Committee and the Fresno County Land Conservation Committee. He currently is serving as the chair of Secretary Kawamura’s AB 771 Honeybee/Seedless Mandarin Co-Existence Working Group. 

Prieto and his wife Cindy have two grown children, Andrea and Jared, and two grandchildren.

Prieto will be recognized at the FCFB Annual Banquet on May 8.