REYNOLDSBURG, Ohio — Gov. John Kasich has sworn in David Daniels as the newest director of the Ohio Department of Agriculture (ODA). Daniels, a former state senator from Ross, Pike and part of Pickaway counties, replaced Jim Zehringer who, in November 2011, was appointed by Kasich as director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

State Veterinarian Tony Forshey has been serving as interim director of the ODA.

Daniels served four terms in the Ohio House of Representatives before being elected to the state Senate. Prior to that he served four years on the Greenfield (Ohio) City Council and eight years as mayor. He also served as a Highland County Commissioner for six years.

As ODA director he wants to make sure that everyone knows agriculture is the No. 1 industry in Ohio, he said. “My hope and my aim is to make sure that everybody knows that agriculture is a part of their life; whether or not they’re getting a flu vaccine, that vaccine started out in an egg culture,” he said.

“You look around every community in this state, agriculture touches everybody’s life, and I want to make sure that people know that. There are a lot of jobs, a lot of career opportunities there in agriculture for young people that are thinking about where they’re going with their life. I want them to know that there are wonderful opportunities in agriculture for them.”

His first order of business will be getting to know the agency and meeting with each of the individual chiefs and department heads to discuss their needs and concerns. Currently there are no budget cuts looming and some open positions may be filled.

“We’ve been without a permanent director for about three months,” he said. “I want to give congratulations to Dr. Forshey, who has done an absolutely fantastic job in the interim.”

Throughout his career Daniels fought against unnecessary red tape and regulations and he will continue to do that, he said. He wants to strike the right balance to protect everyone’s interests.

“We have regulatory authority over a number of different things,” he said. “We’re going to look at every possible rule and regulation that is being passed to make sure that it is not onerous on business but nevertheless, it has public safety in mind.”

Daniels is a native of Greenfield, where he and his father managed Daniels Brothers Farm.

“We were a family farm,” he said. “It was a great way to grow up. From the time I was about 15 years old, I was going to be a farmer for the rest of my life. I enjoyed the opportunities I had there, and who knew when I was ankle deep in cow manure, that I would get a call and be asked to lead the Department of Agriculture?

“It is a great opportunity,” he said. “It is a great challenge for me and I want to make sure that people are there who are working every day to put food and fiber on the tables of every consumer in the state of Ohio, know that somebody is here, working with this agency, who has done just that.”

Daniels still lives in Greenfield with his wife, Karen. They have four children and six grandchildren.