Searching for Iowa’s next Secretary of Agriculture

Sep 18, 2017

Bill Northey is preparing to leave Iowa for Washington

By Diego Flammini
News Reporter
Farms.com

With its current head of the state agriculture department poised to join the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Iowa will have to name a new Secretary of Agriculture.

On Sept. 2, President Trump nominated Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey to serve as the Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation. The Senate received the nomination on Sept. 5.

And with Northey’s time in Iowa winding down, the search is on for his replacement.

A number of people have been named as possible successors to Northey. And most have spent considerable time on farms.

Dan Zumbach is a 57-year-old farmer from Iowa’s Delaware County. Since 2013, he has been the State Senator from the 48^th District, which includes Delaware, Buchanan, Jones and Linn Counties.

He is also a ranking member of the Iowa Senate Agriculture Committee.

A lifelong member of Iowa’s ag community, Zumbach relishes the chance to serve in the state’s highest agricultural position.

“Agriculture has been my heart, soul and passion for my entire life,” he told KMCH on Sept. 13. “If this is an avenue where I have an opportunity to serve the people in the state of Iowa, I would be honored to do that.”

Dan Zumbach

Another potential candidate for the role of Iowa’s agriculture secretary comes from the Iowa House of Representatives.

Annette Sweeney operates a cattle operation in Hardin County. She also serves as the chair of the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, serves on the International Board of the State Agriculture and Rural Leaders Association, and sits on the Iowa Women in Agriculture board.

Annette Sweeney

Another member of Iowa’s legislature who could head up the Department of Agriculture also has deep roots in agriculture and politics.

Pat Grassley, a 34-year-old Iowa State Representative from the 50^th District (Dubuque County), holds an Associate’s degree in agricultural business from Hawkeye Community College. He helps his father, Robin, farm 1,700 acres of corn and soybeans in New Hartford, IA.

And his grandfather, Chuck Grassley, serves in the U.S. Senate.

No matter who’s chosen for the position, they need to have the interests of Iowa farmers in mind, Pat says.

"Iowa's an ag state, and so it's a position that has to be filled by someone who really understands agriculture and has the best interests of Iowa agriculture at heart,” he told The Des Moines Register on Sept. 13.

Pat Grassley

Governor Kim Reynolds will select Iowa’s next Secretary of Agriculture.

That person would serve until the 2018 election.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.