DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey today announced that Randy Watts has been hired as the Feed and Fertilizer Bureau Chief and Mike Manahl will lead the Weights and Measures Bureau at the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. Watts started on Sept. 28th and Manahl started on Oct. 12th.
“Randy and Mike both bring strong leadership to these Bureaus and will be a tremendous asset to the Department as we seek to continue to serve the people of Iowa,” Northey said.
Watts will oversee the Feed and Fertilizer Bureau, which licenses and inspects manufacturers and distributors of fertilizers, soil conditioners, bulk dry animal nutrients, agricultural limestone and commercial feed. The bureau also handles the inspection of egg handlers.
Watts has been an inspector in the Department’s Weights and Measures Bureau since 2008 and before that he owned and operated a feed manufacturing facility in Nevada, Iowa.
“I am very grateful for this opportunity and proud to be able to be part of the team,” Watts said. “The Feed and Fertilizer Bureau does important work and I look forward to continuing to work with the Department’s staff and the regulated industry to fulfill our statutory obligations.”
As Weights and Measures Bureau Chief, Manahl will oversee the license and inspection of many of the scales and meters that safeguard the integrity of approximately $10 billion of annual commercial activity in Iowa. The Bureau, which was created in 1923, conducts mandated inspections of gas pumps, counter scales, large scales (truck, railroad, livestock, hopper, and platform scales) and mass flow meters. The Department has also responsible for the inspection and certification of grain moisture meters.
Manahl previously worked for the Iowa Department of Public Health as the state antiviral coordinator. He also has 25 years of service in the U.S. Army Reserve and currently is a Master Sergeant, Senior Health Care Specialist and Chief Wardmaster.
“I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work as the Bureau Chief for Weights and Measures, not many people realize how the scales and meters we regulate affect Iowans almost daily,” Manahl said. “Insuring the integrity of weights and measures improves consumer confidence in purchases and allows businesses to compete fairly in the market place. The bureau has a long distinguished history and I look forward to continuing that tradition.”
