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Perdue understands ‘the thrill of a great crop’
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue says he has the advantage of coming to his new position at the USDA as a farmer. Secretary Perdue tells Brownfield the primary difference between him and his predecessor, whom Perdue calls “a great guy,” is that Tom Vilsack had been a lawyer prior to leading the USDA, while Perdue points out that he has been a farmer.
“What you get that way is understanding the heart, the spirit and the soul of American agriculture from a personal experience standpoint,” said Perdue, following his presentation after which he took questions from the audience. “I understand the thrill of a great crop and great prices; I understand the despair and devastation of a drought and poor prices.”
Following Perdue’s speech and question and answer session Friday, many farmers had similar observations about Perdue.
“He’s a farmer himself, and he knows what it’s really like out on the farm,” said Ronnie Russell, who farms at Richmond, Missouri, after hearing Perdue’s remarks Friday morning.
Russell tells Brownfield he was impressed by Secretary Perdue’s statements about the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) after President Trump’s turnaround from earlier threats to withdraw from the agreement.
“Some of [President Trump’s] initial comments on that we were a little bit concerned about, but we are certainly glad that our new Secretary of Agriculture has got a good idea of how important NAFTA is to American agriculture,” said Russell.
Perdue, after speaking to the farm audience at the American Royal Complex in Kansas City, commented to reporters that farmers are the most optimistic people in the country.
“Spring by spring by spring,” said Perdue, “they put seed in the ground hoping for a better outcome than last year.”
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