Joe Guthrie is the owner and principal of Wexford Oaks Consulting. Prior to founding that company, he served for four years as Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (VDACS) under Governor Glenn Youngkin. As Commissioner, Joe led an agency with a mission to promote the economic development of Virginia agriculture, provide consumer protection, and encourage environmental sustainability. He brings to the job decades of experience in production agriculture as a 6th-generation owner of a beef cattle farm in Pulaski County. He also has fifteen years of experience as a member of the faculty of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech. His previous public service includes ten years as a local elected official in Pulaski County with four years on the school board and six years on the Board of Supervisors, including the final two as Chair.


Joe holds degrees in Agricultural Economics from Virginia Tech and from Massey University in New Zealand where he was a Fulbright Scholar. He and his wife Carol have three grown children and divide their time between Richmond and the farm in Pulaski County.