Ag Community Watches as Leadership Takes Shape in D.C.

The Senate Agriculture Committee is still pulling together background information on President Trump’s nominee for agriculture secretary, Sonny Perdue, before setting the date for a confirmation hearing.

Insiders expect the hearing this month.

In the meantime, Iowa’s agriculture secretary, Bill Northey, is being considered for a top administrative post in the USDA, bringing optimism to the ag industry in the Midwest that its concerns will be well-represented. Northey is a past president of a group that represents state agriculture departments and has a nationwide network of agricultural contacts.

Northey said last week that he would be interested in working at USDA but hasn’t been interviewed for a position. He also said he thinks it’s a good sign for the Midwest that Trump has named Sam Clovis, a former Sioux City college economics professor and radio talk show host, as White House liaison to lead the transition at USDA.

Perdue, who is 70, is a Georgia farm boy who became a veterinarian, a captain in the U.S. Air Force, and a successful small business owner, concentrating in agribusiness and transportation, and then a two-term Georgia governor. He has a record of promoting the export of U.S.-produced grain, meat and farm products.

Sources: Agriculture.com, Wisconsin State Farmer