Lancaster Farming: Who Will Lead Trump’s USDA?
Who Will Lead Trump’s USDA?
Tom Venesky, tvenesky@lancasterfarming.com
Douglas Rissing
Donald Trump has been selecting Cabinet appointees for his second term, but as of press time, ag secretary was not one of them.
Rep. Glenn Thompson, R-Pa., is among the people being considered to lead USDA, according to Politico.
Thompson chairs the House Agriculture Committee and hails from north-central Pennsylvania.
It is unclear if Thompson has interest in the position as he works on passing the Farm Bill.
Since the election, Lancaster Farming has been working to line up an interview with Thompson but has not yet succeeded.
Among the first names to be floated publicly was Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
Virginia farmer Joel Salatin claimed in a Nov. 6 blog post that Massie had agreed to the ag secretary post.
Salatin, a well-known advocate for a conception of regenerative farming, claimed to have accepted one of six adviser to the secretary positions.
However, when contacted on the same day, Massie’s office said he had yet to receive an offer from Trump’s team but he was ready to help.
Massie does not currently serve on the House Agriculture Committee.
Other names for the ag secretary include Sarah Frey, founder of the Illinois-based pumpkin producer Frey Farms, and Charles Herbster, who owns a beef cattle operation in Nebraska.
Both have disadvantages, according to Politico — Frey for lack of experience and for opposition to the Farm Bill, Herbster for sexual assault allegations he denies.
Other names mentioned include Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss, and Kip Tom, a co-chair of Farmers and Ranchers for Trump.
The big question is how Robert Kennedy Jr. might be involved in USDA.
The failed presidential candidate has been disdainful of large-scale agribusiness and has proposed curbing certain farming practices to produce more healthful food.
Kennedy’s former running mate, Nicole Shanahan, is backing Massie, according to The Hill.
Kennedy and Massie oppose restrictions on raw milk sales.
Both have championed Pennsylvania dairy farmer Amos Miller, who is in a legal battle with the state over his refusal to get a license to sell raw milk.
Miller’s attorney, Robert Barnes, who is based in California, said the Republican success in the election is good for small farms and traditional agriculture.
“The election signals Americans favor a food approach that embraces their informed consent, supports small farms using traditional methods, and less corporatized, industrialized, mechanized, monopolized food supply,” Barnes said. “Those who ignore that will pay the price at the voter box.”
Critics have raised concerns about the potential direction of Trump’s USDA.
Karen Perry Stillerman, deputy director of the Food and Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said Trump’s promise to fire government researchers and dismantle science agencies could harm consumers.
As precedent, she cited USDA’s decision in the first Trump presidency to relocate an economic research agency from Washington to Kansas City. Many staffers quit instead of moving.
“In his first term, his administration made multiple attempts to muzzle USDA scientists and science agencies,” Stillerman wrote in a Nov. 6 blog post.