Sheldon R. Jones

Sheldon Jones joined the Farm Foundation staff as Vice President in October 2008. He brings to the Foundation extensive experience in public policy and agriculture. Through Sheldon’s work in state government, he has been involved in developing collaborative working relationships with local and national government agencies, worked on numerous natural resource issues, and worked extensively on border issues with Mexico. Prior to joining Farm Foundation, he served as deputy commissioner of the Colorado Department of Agriculture. From 2002 until 2004, he was executive vice president of the Agri-Business Council of Arizona. Prior to that Sheldon served as the director of the Arizona Department of Agriculture from 1997 until 2002. During his term, he was active in the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, serving as president of the organization in 2002. Sheldon worked in the agricultural banking industry for 14 years before beginning his career in government service. A fifth generation Arizonan, Sheldon grew up on his family’s cow-calf ranching operation in central Arizona and assisted in managing the ranch until its sale in 1998. He earned his bachelors and masters degrees in Agribusiness Management at Arizona State University.