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Senate Ag Committee advances Taylor, Esteban, and Logan nominations

President Biden’s nominees for the USDA and Farm Credit Administration have advanced out of the Senate Ag Committee.

The Committee voted favorably on the nominations of Alexis Taylor to be the Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, Dr. Jose Emilio Esteban to be Under Secretary for Food Safety at the USDA, and Vincent Garfield Logan to the Farm Credit Administration Board.

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says he fully expects Taylor to be confirmed as Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs.

Speaking during the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) annual meeting, he discussed some priorities for the position.   “One priority is to make sure we enforce our trade agreements,” he says.  “The second priority is to continue the aggressive promotion of US products and businesses out into these markets.  We have scheduled five trade missions this year.”

He says working with the US Trade Representative and ensuring trade remains part of the 2023 Farm Bill is also top of mind.
“We’re working collaboratively with USTR on the Endo-Pacific Framework. Trade is an important component and pillar of that and there is tremendous opportunity in southeast Asian and tremendous opportunity for opening market opportunities. If confirmed, I think Alexis would be spending a lot of her time making sure we are a force in those conversations and discussions on the trade side,” he says. “…We have a farm bill coming up and we want to make sure that the trade section of that farm bill is as strong as it can be.”

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow, committee chair, says she’s confident the three nominees will help guide the missions that are essential to the nation’s farmers and ranchers.

Several ag groups have called on the Senate to promptly approve the nominations.

The nominations now await consideration by the full U.S. Senate.