President Bush will nominate Edward Schafer, a former two-term Republican governor from N. Dakota, to be his next secretary of agriculture.
As governor, Schafer managed a $4.6 billion budget with 12,000 employees. During his two terms, Gov. Schafer effectively directed state response to eight statewide disasters, including drought, flood, and fire. This included historic flooding and fire in Grand Forks in 1997, which led to the evacuation of tens of thousands of North Dakota residents. He also led an agricultural trade mission from North Dakota to China in 2000 to help open new markets for North Dakota farm products. Earlier in 2000, He represented the United States with Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman on a Presidential Delegation to China to promote Permanent Normal Trading Relations.
Schafer will replace Mike Johanns, who resigned as U.S. agriculture secretary last month to launch a bid for the Nebraska Senate seat being vacated by Republican Chuck Hagel at the end of next year. He has gained extensive agricultural experience while serving as governor from 1992 to 2000, of North Dakota where nearly 25 percent of its residents work as farmers and ranchers or are employed in farm-related jobs.
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) will urge the Senate to quickly confirm Schafer.