Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will tour Couser Cattle Company in Nevada Friday.
This is the second Midwest stop for Perdue in just over a week. Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey is excited Perdue?s coming.
?It?s just his second week on the job. I know when he landed at USDA, I?m sure he had a lot of papers on his desk with lots of things to sign and do,? Northey said. ?As the whole country and the world to be able to visit, to choose Iowa to come to, is a great thing.?
Perdue will also give his first major farm policy speech, and host a farmer?s town hall beginning 10:00 o?clock. ?Iowans are going to like what they hear from secretary Perdue,? Northey said. ?He?s very down to earth, he is a farmer, ag businessman, political leader, so I think folks will like him a lot.?
Northey added the town hall will be a great time for people to ask him questions.
?Questions like, what does he think about trade? What does he think about ethanol and some of the other issues?”
Northey has been in the news as a possible candidate for a high-up USDA position. He says right now. But he?s leaving his options open.
?I love what I am doing and very passionate about water quality work and all the other things I get to do as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture. If I do get that phone call, I would take it and be interested. But it would need to be the right position as to what I could do for Iowa farmers or agriculture in general.?
Sources say other names passed around for major USDA positions include Indiana farmer Kip Tom and Indiana Secretary of Agriculture Ted McKinny.
Northey spoke to reporters after viewing water conservation projects near Madrid with Governor Terry Branstad Thursday morning.
