Maine Agriculture Commissioner Amanda Beal was elected vice president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture for the coming year at its annual meeting in Indianapolis this week.

Amanda Beal, commissioner of the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, in Feb. 2019. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Beal served as second vice president this year. She’s on track to become president of the association for 2026, when Maine will host the organization’s annual meeting in Portland.

The association is a nonpartisan, nonprofit group representing elected and appointed agriculture officials in all 50 states and four U.S. territories. It promotes agriculture through policy work, partnership development and public engagement.

Beal has headed the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry since 2019. Her role includes protecting and promoting the state’s farms, forests and other natural resources. She co-chairs the Maine Climate Council’s Natural and Working Lands working group and just concluded a term as president of the Northeast Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

Before becoming agriculture commissioner, Beal was the president and CEO of Maine Farmland Trust. She grew up on her family’s dairy farm in Litchfield and now lives in Warren, where she and her husband own a 35-acre farm.