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Trump to Tap Southerner Sonny Perdue to Run Agriculture

CBN

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President-elect Donald Trump plans to nominate former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue to serve as secretary of the Department of Agriculture.

It was the last vacant cabinet post in the Trump administration, and the pick comes just one day before Trump takes office.

The 70-year-old Perdue would be the first southerner to lead the Agriculture Department in more than two decades.

Perdue comes from rural central Georgia. He is a farmer's son who built businesses in grain trading and trucking before becoming Georgia's governor in 2002, the first Republican governor of the state since Reconstruction.

Agriculture secretaries are often from the Midwest, where corn and soybeans dominate the markets. U.S. farm policy has long been favorable to those crops, and congressional battles over massive farm bills every five years often divide along regional lines.

Southerners have pushed for subsidy programs that are more favorable to rice and cotton, which can be more expensive to grow.

Sen. Ben Sasse, R-Neb., says he wants to talk to Perdue about "the unique interests of Midwest agriculture," including trade and regulatory burdens.

"Nebraskans feed the world and our agriculture secretary needs to understand what we bring to the table," Sasse said.

As Trump approached his inauguration, farm-state lawmakers and agriculture groups were growing concerned that he had not yet named an agriculture secretary candidate.

On Thursday, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, had tweeted that he was frustrated with the process.

"NEED Ag leader w dirt under finger nails 4farmers," he wrote.

The Associated Press reports the news about Perdue comes from a person familiar with the decision who is not authorized to speak publicly about it.

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