USDA Secretary Pick Vilsack Faces Farm Bill, Ethanol

Bloomberg.com
By Alan Bjerga

Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Tom Vilsack, who President-elect Barack Obama named as his Agriculture secretary choice, will need to act quickly on unimplemented farm subsidies and lower crop prices, commodity and agriculture analysts said.

As the 30th head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the former Iowa governor, 58, would also be tasked with re-examining the nation’s biofuels policy. He replaces Ed Schafer, who has led the USDA since Jan. 28.

Vilsack’s experience as governor of a rural state makes him well-qualified to lead the third-largest Cabinet department in spending, Obama said at a news conference today. The USDA has a budget of about $100 billion and 110,000 employees.

“As fiercely protective of family farmers and the farm economy as he has been, he’s also been forward-looking” on rural development and renewable energy, Obama said in Chicago with Vilsack.

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