Rep. Mike Dobrinski, R-Okeene, recently was appointed by House Speaker Charles Mc-Call to serve as a member of the Agriculture & Rural Development Committee for the Council of State Governments.

CSG is the nation’s largest nonpartisan organization serving all three branches of state elected and appointed officials.

Regional offices of the organization allow state officials to connect on shared issues that are geographically based including federal lands, water rights, agriculture, border relations and more.

CSG regional offices also host conferences, in-state visits and leadership development programs that allow officials to regionally network.

Oklahoma is part of CSG South and Oklahoma City will host the 76th Southern Legislative Conference in July at which CSG South will have a strong presence.

McCall described the conference as an opportunity to showcase the great state of Oklahoma along with the talent and dedication of the state’s elected officials.

Dobrinski currently serves on the House Agriculture & Rural Development Committee.

Since retiring from his automobile business, he runs a small cow/calf operation on his farm in Blaine County.

He represents largely rural House District 59, which includes Dewey and parts of Blaine, Canadian, Kingfisher and Woodward counties and is home to many agriculture producers.

“I look forward to sharing with and learning from fellow legislators from our neighboring states to improve agriculture activities in Oklahoma,” Dobrinski said.

“Our state is very diverse, and I appreciate the efforts of our various departments and agencies, including the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, Commerce and Tourism, to find and expand new opportunities such as Agri-tourism as well as direct selling of products grown and raised here in Oklahoma.

“I’m hopeful my work on this committee can enhance those efforts.”