President Trump nominated Bill Northey, the Iowa agriculture secretary, to be undersecretary of agriculture for farm production and conservation, the No. 3 post at the USDA. If confirmed, Northey would oversee crop subsidy, land stewardship, and crop insurance programs that together cost $20 billion a year. The president also nominated Nebraska state agriculture director Gregory Ibach to be undersecretary for marketing and regulation. The nominations bring the administration closer to putting its stamp on the USDA and, at the same time, show how slowly the White House is moving seven months after taking office.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue, who had a historically late start to his tenure, is the only high-level Trump nominee confirmed by the Senate to work at the USDA. None of the eight sub-cabinet officials, who serve one step below the secretary and put administration policy into action, have testified at a confirmation hearing. So far, five have been nominated; three slots, overseeing public nutrition, meat safety, and the Forest Service, still await a nominee.
Perdue urged the Senate to act as soon as possible on the Northey and Ibach nominations. “This is especially important given the challenges USDA will face in helping Texans and Louisianans recover from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey,” he said.
The Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to hold a confirmation hearing this fall on Trump’s three initial USDA nominees — Steven Censky for deputy secretary, Ted McKinney for undersecretary for trade, and Sam Clovis for undersecretary for research. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer has threatened an all-out fight against Clovis, the most controversial USDA nominee in 15 years.
Usually, there is little opposition to USDA nominees or even much notice outside the agribusiness sector.
In the absence of sub-cabinet officers, Clovis, who was co-chair of Trump’s presidential campaign, is the White House’s chief political liaison at the USDA. While he has a doctorate in public administration, he was nominated for a post reserved for scientists with great experience in ag research or education. The former Iowa college professor and political activist was part of the “beach head” team that arrived at the USDA on inauguration day. Another member of the team, Stephen Vaden, was nominated for general counsel, the department’s top lawyer.
Northey, in his third term as Iowa’s elected agriculture secretary, is a popular and long-anticipated choice and is backed by the state’s senators. “Under Mr. Northey’s leadership, the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship has promoted science and new technologies to better care for our air, soil, and water and focused on telling the story of agriculture,” said the White House. A fourth-generation farmer, Northey is co-chair of a task force trying to control the annual “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico. Two decades ago, he served a term as president of the National Corn Growers Association.
Under a reorganization instituted by Perdue earlier this year, Northey will oversee the Farm Service Agency, which oversees the department’s farm programs, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which runs its stewardship programs, and the Risk Management Agency, which is in charge of crop insurance. It is a portfolio that rivals the deputy secretary’s in importance.
Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley said Northey was an outstanding nominee. “He’s an Iowa farmer with dirt under his fingernails who knows firsthand what goes into running a family farm,” said Grassley, who values firsthand agricultural experience in USDA officials. Said Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst, “Agriculture has been ingrained in Bill Northey all his life.”
As agriculture director in Nebraska, Ibach “has oversight of Nebraska’s plant and animal heath regulatory functions,” said the White House. The experience would dovetail with his USDA post overseeing the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the guardian against crop and animal pests and diseases; the Agricultural Marketing Service, which tracks commodity prices, controls the marketing of some farm goods, and oversees check-off programs that promote U.S. crops; and the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration, which ensures prompt payment and accurate measurement of ag products. Ibach was appointed state agriculture director in 2005 after serving as assistant director since 1999.