Vilsack helps makes agriculture a high-growth economic sector

By Albert R. Hunt

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The farm sector is one of the few bright spots in a rough U.S. economy. Tom Vilsack, the former governor of Iowa, who has an appreciation of policy and politics, is one of the success stories of the Obama administration. Vilsack, 61, has been secretary of the Agriculture Department for three years, and is emerging as one of the most effective and respected ag chiefs.

“He's doing a very good job,” Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley said of his fellow Iowan. The veteran lawmaker gives Vilsack high grades for settling civil rights issues concerning black farmers, helping family farmers get more information and compete better, and boosting ag exports.

There isn't much negative to say about agriculture these days. Farm income reached an estimated $100 billion for the first time last year. Real family income, down for most Americans, has risen 5 percent for family farmers under the Obama/Vilsack tenure. The value of farm land is at a record high and farm debt is down.

That positive trend emerges across the board. The number of farmers markets has climbed to more than 7,000, up 54 percent from 2008. Agriculture-dependent companies such as Deere and Monsanto are posting record profits.

Agricultural exports soared to $136.3 billion last year, producing a net trade surplus of $42 billion; this surplus was $5 billion five years ago. The largest market is China. It was no coincidence that when Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visited the United States this week, he stopped by Muscatine, Iowa.

Vilsack says his department has successfully targeted 15-20 countries to boost exports. One is Vietnam, which he visited last year and is now the 15th largest customer for U.S. farm products.

The secretary estimates that his focus on exports and other issues such as food safety and climate change means up to 40 percent of his time is spent on global matters.

Vilsack has shown resiliency all his life. Abandoned days after birth, he was adopted from an orphanage. He went on to get a law degree, got into politics, and in 1998, became the first Democrat elected governor of Iowa in 30 years.

As a successful two-term Iowa governor with expertise in agricultural issues, he was a natural choice for Obama to tap as the 30th agriculture secretary. Nonetheless, the appointment was greeted with skepticism by sustainable food advocates and environmentalists, who worried he would be too pro-farmer. Business groups were concerned he would be too pro-regulation. He has walked these lines adroitly and wins praise from diverse groups.

In an interview in his spacious office, which features a prominent picture of the last Iowan to serve in his post, Henry Wallace, Vilsack acknowledged a traditional Republican bent among farmers but said the president will hold his own in the November election in battleground farm states such as Iowa.

That prompted mention of a much-discussed Super Bowl commercial in which the actor Clint Eastwood declared it to be halftime in America and says the auto industry is on the way back.

Eastwood, Vilsack said, could make the same ad for American agriculture with one difference: “It's the fourth quarter, and we're winning.”

Albert R. Hunt is the executive editor for Washington at Bloomberg News. Comments: ahunt@bloomberg.net