On a voice vote, the Senate confirmed Gregory Ibach, the state agriculture director in Nebraska, as agriculture undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. Ibach is the third member of Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue’s executive team approved to take office; five slots remain empty.
A vote on USDA nominee Bill Northey, for agriculture undersecretary in charge of farm supports, was blocked by Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, in retribution for sharp-elbowed maneuvering by midwestern officials to prevent a reduction in ethanol and biodiesel mandates, according to Politico. Northey is Iowa’s elected agriculture secretary. His nomination was approved by the Senate Agriculture Committee on the same day as Ibach’s.
As undersecretary, Ibach would oversee USDA programs that protect U.S. agriculture from pests and disease, inspect export grain, assure producers are paid for their goods, report commodity prices at markets throughout the nation, enforce marketing standards, and operate so-called checkoff programs to promote products such as milk, beef and cotton. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said after a dozen years as a Nebraska official, Ibach’s experience “in a wide cross-section of agriculture issues will be invaluable to our customers.”
In a move that affects Ibach’s portfolio, Perdue announced in September that the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration would be merged into the larger Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). Both agencies already were under Ibach’s purview. Perdue also said an international food procurement office in the Farm Service Agency would be combined with a domestic food procurement office in AMS.