A simple swearing-in ceremony became a big going-away party for Nebraska’s top agriculture official Monday.
Greg Ibach, now the state’s former ag chief, took an oath of office for his new post as an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in front of more than 100 Nebraska farm boosters, elected officials, family members and friends.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue conducted the ceremony at the historic Livestock Exchange Building in South Omaha.
The move to Washington for Ibach, a farmer and cattle producer from Sumner, follows nearly 19 years of work at the Nebraska Department of Agriculture — 12 as director — a tenure praised by Gov. Pete Ricketts.
Ibach will support the Trump administration in a post as undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs. He is one of seven undersecretaries who report to Perdue.
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He’ll oversee operations and policy development at three federal agencies within the agency: the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; the Agricultural Marketing Service; and the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration.
The agency known as GIPSA attracted controversy recently when the USDA said it would not implement the Farmer Fair Practice Rule, which was developed under the Obama administration but never went into effect.
The rule, designed to protect the rights of farmers raising livestock for packers, large meat processors, would have made it easier for farmers to sue those businesses over unfair practices.
Perdue told reporters after Monday’s event that the decision to withdraw the rule was a “close call,” but he said the rule “would have been a windfall for litigators.”
Ibach said part of his role was to make sure farmers are treated fairly. He said he’d have an “open door” to hear their concerns.
Ibach’s work at the State Department of Agriculture won the support of major state agricultural organizations such as the Nebraska Farm Bureau and Nebraska Cattlemen, whose leaders praised him as a tireless promoter of their industry.
Ibach made trade trips to 28 countries, including Japan, Canada, China and several in Europe, and helped host international visitors in Nebraska, to promote the sale of Nebraska commodities and food products.
Ricketts noted Ibach’s support of programs that support new livestock industry development: the 2003 Livestock Friendly County designation and the newer Livestock Siting Assessment Matrix, which speeds local governments’ evaluation of proposed livestock feeding operations.
Ricketts also praised Ibach for developing the Certified Nebraska Beef promotional program and for working with other state agencies to support retailer Costco’s push to build the chicken-processing plant now under construction in Fremont.
Perdue said in remarks about Ibach and Bill Northey, the Iowa agriculture secretary nominated for another undersecretary post:
“It was so clear that they were not bureaucrats but authentic agriculturalists that had learned how to get things done within state governments. And yet they maintained that dirt-under-the-fingernails, agricultural heart.”
Ibach’s experience in Nebraska will be an asset at the USDA and on Capitol Hill, said former Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, who served under George W. Bush.
Johanns is also a former U.S. senator and former governor of Nebraska.
Not only will Ibach run the agencies he’s responsible for, and enforce and interpret existing regulations, he’ll also likely be called on by Perdue to travel the country on behalf of the USDA and to advise members of the House and Senate as Congress reauthorizes the farm bill, the legislation that covers the food stamp program and crop insurance.
The Trump administration is on record as not looking to issue new regulations, but dispute will likely arise again over the Farmer Fair Practice Rule, Johanns said.
barbara.soderlin@owh.com, 402-444-1336