|
Become a friend of the Klamath Bucket Brigade All donations are tax deductible |
|
This Website is Dedicated to Alvin Alexander Cheyne January 10, 1921 - June 17, 2005 |
Economist sees Vilsack appointment as part of Obama's moderate trend
Speaker points out
past 3 ag secretaries were
governors
Matthew Weaver
Capital Press
January 8,
2009
When Barry Flinchbaugh listed potential secretary of Agriculture appointees before the Oregon-Idaho Grains Conference in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, early in December, Tom Vilsack's name wasn't mentioned.
That's because Vilsack apparently took his own name out of the running, the Kansas State University agriculture economics professor said.
"At the very beginning, Vilsack was the front-runner," Flinchbaugh said. "I was firmly convinced that's who it was going to be. All of a sudden, it dried up."
When Vilsack was asked, he said he hadn't been contacted, Flinchbaugh said.
"So we all forgot about him," he said. "He more or less took himself out of it, so almost everybody assumed that was a dead issue."
When asked by the Des Moines Register what had changed to bring Vilsack back into the fold, President-elect Barack Obama said Vilsack was never outside the fold and he had no idea who had told Vilsack he wasn't being considered, Flinchbaugh said.
Obama continues his pattern of making appointments down the political middle by bringing Vilsack, another centrist, on board, Flinchbaugh said.
"It certainly makes a ton of sense to have a secretary of Agriculture from Iowa," he said. "He is a strong supporter of renewable fuels, so I would view him as the mainstream thinking in agriculture these days."
Vilsack's appointment may continue another trend in the position, Flinchbaugh said. "Evidently, if you want to be secretary of Agriculture in the future, you've got to be a governor," he said. "The last three were governors, all from farm states - Nebraska, North Dakota and Iowa. The interesting thing is it's both parties."
The department is huge in terms of personnel, Flinchbaugh said, and governors have strong administrative experience.
The remaining question for agriculture is where the Obama administration comes down on trade, Flinchbaugh said. While Vilsack is a strong supporter of trade, Flinchbaugh said, Obama is sending mixed signals.
"We're going to get strict enforcement of payment limitations," he said. "I'm not suggesting we'll reopen the farm bill and change them, but this farm bill ratchets them down, and I think they're going to get enforced as strictly as possible."
The incoming president made a statement which caught Flinchbaugh's attention and, he said, will put commercial farmers at ease while upsetting niche farmers.
In talking about rural development, Obama reportedly said small farmers can feed the community, but large farmers will feed the world.
"I never heard it put quite that way before, and that kind of bridges the divide between the small-farm advocates and the commercial farmers," Flinchbaugh said. "Again, it's evidence of going down the middle."
Vilsack's appointment continues to draw a variety of responses from the agriculture community.
After his appointment, the U.S. Grain Council, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the National Corn Growers Association issued press releases in favor of Vilsack, while the Organic Consumers Association spoke out against Vilsack, saying the news "sent a chill" through the sustainable food and farming community.
For the most part, agriculture entities appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach.
Washington State Potato Commission Executive Director Chris Voigt pointed to Vilsack's voting record in Iowa, mostly as a moderate leaning toward the Democrats.
"He was very supportive of the commodity crops like corn, soybeans, very big into ethanol," Voigt said. "I guess the big question we don't know about is how supportive he's going to be of the specialty crops, things like potatoes, apples and asparagus."
Vilsack is on record as being supportive of increasing healthful foods in school lunch programs, Voigt said, which may indicate support of specialty crops.
"We're optimistic," Voigt said. "Time will tell. We'll see how he does."
Matthew Weaver is based in Spokane, Wash. E-mail: mweaver@capitalpress.com.
When Barry Flinchbaugh listed potential secretary of Agriculture appointees before the Oregon-Idaho Grains Conference in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, early in December, Tom Vilsack's name wasn't mentioned.
That's because Vilsack apparently took his own name out of the running, the Kansas State University agriculture economics professor said.
"At the very beginning, Vilsack was the front-runner," Flinchbaugh said. "I was firmly convinced that's who it was going to be. All of a sudden, it dried up."
When Vilsack was asked, he said he hadn't been contacted, Flinchbaugh said.
"So we all forgot about him," he said. "He more or less took himself out of it, so almost everybody assumed that was a dead issue."
When asked by the Des Moines Register what had changed to bring Vilsack back into the fold, President-elect Barack Obama said Vilsack was never outside the fold and he had no idea who had told Vilsack he wasn't being considered, Flinchbaugh said.
Obama continues his pattern of making appointments down the political middle by bringing Vilsack, another centrist, on board, Flinchbaugh said.
"It certainly makes a ton of sense to have a secretary of Agriculture from Iowa," he said. "He is a strong supporter of renewable fuels, so I would view him as the mainstream thinking in agriculture these days."
Vilsack's appointment may continue another trend in the position, Flinchbaugh said. "Evidently, if you want to be secretary of Agriculture in the future, you've got to be a governor," he said. "The last three were governors, all from farm states - Nebraska, North Dakota and Iowa. The interesting thing is it's both parties."
The department is huge in terms of personnel, Flinchbaugh said, and governors have strong administrative experience.
The remaining question for agriculture is where the Obama administration comes down on trade, Flinchbaugh said. While Vilsack is a strong supporter of trade, Flinchbaugh said, Obama is sending mixed signals.
"We're going to get strict enforcement of payment limitations," he said. "I'm not suggesting we'll reopen the farm bill and change them, but this farm bill ratchets them down, and I think they're going to get enforced as strictly as possible."
The incoming president made a statement which caught Flinchbaugh's attention and, he said, will put commercial farmers at ease while upsetting niche farmers.
In talking about rural development, Obama reportedly said small farmers can feed the community, but large farmers will feed the world.
"I never heard it put quite that way before, and that kind of bridges the divide between the small-farm advocates and the commercial farmers," Flinchbaugh said. "Again, it's evidence of going down the middle."
Vilsack's appointment continues to draw a variety of responses from the agriculture community.
After his appointment, the U.S. Grain Council, the National Association of Wheat Growers and the National Corn Growers Association issued press releases in favor of Vilsack, while the Organic Consumers Association spoke out against Vilsack, saying the news "sent a chill" through the sustainable food and farming community.
For the most part, agriculture entities appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach.
Washington State Potato Commission Executive Director Chris Voigt pointed to Vilsack's voting record in Iowa, mostly as a moderate leaning toward the Democrats.
"He was very supportive of the commodity crops like corn, soybeans, very big into ethanol," Voigt said. "I guess the big question we don't know about is how supportive he's going to be of the specialty crops, things like potatoes, apples and asparagus."
Vilsack is on record as being supportive of increasing healthful foods in school lunch programs, Voigt said, which may indicate support of specialty crops.
"We're optimistic," Voigt said. "Time will tell. We'll see how he does."
Matthew Weaver is based in Spokane, Wash. E-mail: mweaver@capitalpress.com.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml