Bill Huffman
Director - Government Relations

December 19, 2008

President-elect Barrack Obama nominated former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack this week to be Secretary of Agriculture and Colorado Senator Ken Salazar to be Secretary of the Department of Interior. Both appointments require Senate confirmation.

Vilsack

Agriculture Secretary-designate Tom Vilsack is a lawyer with very little agricultural experience. His family owns farm land that is reportedly enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program. His political career began as Mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa in 1987.    In 1998, he became the first Democrat to be elected Governor of Iowa in 30 years.    He served two terms.

The reaction to his nomination has been mixed. Major commodity groups have praised his nomination as has the renewable fuels industry and those involved in biotechnology.

Nutrition, hunger, and sustainable agriculture groups expressed disappointment in his nomination. The Consumer Federation of America greeted Vilsack nomination with hope. The Federation in a statement said, “We believe he will work to reform USDA and return it to the role that President Lincoln envisioned, the People’s department.”

Those opposed to farm subsidies immediately pointed out that Vilsack and his wife collected $48,782 in farm subsidies (conservation payments) and questioned whether it will be “business as usual at USDA”.    He has been accused by some critics as being too closely allied with the genetically modified food industry.

From our perspective, it appears that Vilsack will be a moderate-centrist as USDA Secretary. He certainly will be called upon to implement programs advocated by the Obama Administration. In a conference call this morning with Lesher, Russell and Barron, the governmental affairs-lobbyists for the California Rice Commission, it was noted that Vilsack will support lower payment limits, which will be a hot topic when the 111th Congress convenes on January 6th.    There is no question that he is a big supporter of biofuels and ethanol production and he has stated that nutrition will be an important part of decisions that he will make as Secretary.

It remains to be seen who will become Deputy Secretary or Undersecretary for Commodity Programs and Foreign Affairs. There is a long list of potential candidates including Karen Ross, CEO, of the California Grape Growers Association, who is actively seeking the Deputy’s position.

Salazar

Senator Ken Salazar is a rancher from the San Luis Valley in South-Central Colorado. Prior to his election to the U.S. Senate, Mr. Salazar was Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources from 1990 through 1994 and he was the state’s Attorney General prior to being elected to the Senate. He is a westerner, a rancher who understands the value of public land and wildlife. He has sponsored legislation to protect national monuments, wilderness areas and scenic rivers. He opposed drilling in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge and has fought the Bush Administration’s effort to lease thousands of acres of land in Wyoming, Colorado, and Utah for oil shale development.

Reaction to Salazar’s nomination has been mixed.    The Sierra Club complimented his achievements while the Tucson based Center for Biological Diversity criticized his nomination. Most agriculture groups are expected to support him.

California, of course, will be vitally interested in this nomination. The Department of Interior will be very involved in solving the dilemma of the Bay-Delta and other water and environmental issues facing this state.

Again, it appears that President-elect Obama has chosen a moderate-centrist for the position as Secretary of the Department of Interior.

Other News

The Northern California Water Association has announced the appointment of Donn Zea as President and CEO of NCWA. Zea comes to the association from the California Forest Products Commission where he served for 11 years as President. NCWA Chairman Steve Dana said “We are very pleased Donn is joining NCWA in a leadership position to help us effectively address California many critical water issues”.

Zea replaced Ryan Broderick who resigned.

Japan Tender

We are pleased to report that Farmers’ Rice Cooperative will supply two additional cargoes of California rice to Japan.    FRC was awarded two cargoes out of 5 vessels in a Japanese tender on Tuesday night. With this business, FRC will now supply 5 cargoes to Japan this year and has already shipped one cargo to Korea.

Final Note

This column will take a break during Christmas and New Years!    We will resume publishing on January 2nd.

We extend our best wishes to all of you for the Holidays!