Ron Sparks

Sparks announced Alabama's implementation of voluntary premises registration under the National Animal Identification System, registering the physical locations where livestock are kept, housed, fed or exhibited so that a diseased animal could be traced back to its herd of origin.

March 20, 2005Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: alfafarmers.org · researched July 31, 2026

Sparks coordinated the first purchase of Alabama-grown produce by the Alabama Department of Education's Child Nutrition Program, a $36,000 order of 2,000 forty-pound boxes of Cullman County sweet potatoes that helped put fresh Alabama produce in front of an estimated half million Alabama school children that spring.

May 27, 2003Supports Environment and Public Health

Source: alfafarmers.org · researched July 31, 2026

Sparks coordinated the first purchase of Alabama-grown produce by the Alabama Department of Education's Child Nutrition Program, a $36,000 order of 2,000 forty-pound boxes of Cullman County sweet potatoes that helped put fresh Alabama produce in front of an estimated half million Alabama school children that spring.

May 27, 2003Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: alfafarmers.org · researched July 31, 2026

Sparks presented a $100,000 state grant to Tuskegee University president Benjamin F. Payton to establish the Tuskegee-Macon County Comprehensive Farmers' Market, matched by in-kind contributions from the university, the county Cooperative Extension System, the Macon County Commission and the City of Tuskegee, to give small farmers a year-round venue to sell their products.

March 24, 2003Supports Social Programs and Welfare

Source: alfafarmers.org · researched July 31, 2026

Sparks recorded a radio advertisement broadcast across Alabama urging consumers to sign an electronic petition supporting country-of-origin labeling for seafood in restaurants and to ask restaurants where their fish came from, as part of the U.S. farm-raised catfish industry's campaign against imported Asian catfish.

September 17, 2007Opposes Foreign Trade

Source: alfafarmers.org · researched July 31, 2026

Sparks announced that trade negotiations he led between Alabama agribusiness leaders and Cuban trade officials produced roughly $18 million in new contracts for Alabama products, including nearly $9 million in poultry and more than $10 million in transmission poles; Alabama sales to Cuba had grown to $15 million in direct cash sales since 2002 under the export push he prioritized.

February 7, 2005Supports Foreign Trade

Source: alfafarmers.org · researched July 31, 2026

During his first term as agriculture commissioner, Sparks pushed for country-of-origin labeling for food and agricultural products, citing health problems and under-cost dumping associated with imports from certain countries.

January 20, 2003Supports Foreign Trade

Source: en.wikipedia.org · researched July 4, 2026

Sparks recorded a radio advertisement broadcast across Alabama urging consumers to sign an electronic petition supporting country-of-origin labeling for seafood in restaurants and to ask restaurants where their fish came from, as part of the U.S. farm-raised catfish industry's campaign against imported Asian catfish.

September 17, 2007Supports Corporate Accountability

Source: alfafarmers.org · researched July 31, 2026

Sparks ran the Alabama Rural Development Agency from 2011 until 2017, when Governor Kay Ivey abolished the Office of Rural Development and fired him.

April 12, 2017

Source: en.wikipedia.org · researched July 4, 2026

At a March 3 press conference Sparks announced that an investigation led by the Alabama Department of Agriculture and Industries across 15 Alabama counties and one Florida county had recovered $546,400 in stolen cattle, tractors, backhoes, ATVs, tools and trailers, and had also turned up drugs, moonshine and untaxed liquor; the recovery of 18 head of cattle at the Montgomery Stockyard was the first Alabama case in which DNA testing identified stolen cattle.

March 3, 2009

Source: alfafarmers.org · researched July 31, 2026

Sparks launched the Help Alabama Grow A+ promotion program at a meeting of the new Alabama Agriculture and Industries Board in Montgomery, an advertising campaign of billboards, posters, point-of-sale material and product labels identifying Alabama-grown produce, with television spots he filmed alongside board member and musician Randy Owen.

June 26, 2003

Source: alfafarmers.org · researched July 31, 2026

Sparks served as Alabama Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries from 2003 to 2011 after first serving as assistant commissioner beginning in 1999.

January 20, 2003

Source: en.wikipedia.org · researched July 4, 2026

In 1993, Sparks was appointed director of the newly created DeKalb County 911 System and oversaw headquarters construction, equipment procurement, staff hiring and training, and address verification for more than 30,000 homes and businesses.

January 1, 1993

Source: en.wikipedia.org · researched July 4, 2026

Sparks served as a DeKalb County Commissioner from 1978 to 1982 after defeating a two-term incumbent at age 24.

January 1, 1978

Source: en.wikipedia.org · researched July 4, 2026