The Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services (FFAS) is the third highest-ranking official of the United States Department of Agriculture

United States Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

, after the Secretary and Deputy Secretary. This Under Secretary provides leadership and oversight for the Farm Service Agency

Farm Service Agency

The Farm Service Agency is the USDA agency into which were merged several predecessor agencies, including the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service . The ASCS was, as the FSA is now, primarily tasked with the implementation of farm conservation and regulation laws around the country...

, the Risk Management Agency

Risk Management Agency

The Risk Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture helps producers manage their business risks through effective, market-based risk management solutions. RMA's mission is to promote, support, and regulate sound risk management solutions to preserve and strengthen the economic...

 and the Foreign Agricultural Service

Foreign Agricultural Service

The Foreign Agricultural Service is the foreign affairs agency with primary responsibility for the United States Department of Agriculture's overseas programs—market development, international trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection of statistics and market information...

. The President normally appoints the Under Secretary as President of the Commodity Credit Corporation

Commodity Credit Corporation

The Commodity Credit Corporation is a wholly owned government corporation created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices"...

 (CCC), though in the past this latter responsibility has sometimes been held by other USDA officials. Appointment both as Under Secretary and as a member of the Board of Directors of the CCC must be confirmed by the Senate. The Under Secretary for FFAS also normally chairs the interagency Food Assistance Policy Council and is a member of the interagency Trade Policy Review Group (TPRG). The Under Secretary is compensated at the pay rate established for Level III of the Executive Schedule

Executive Schedule

Executive Schedule refers to the highest-ranked appointed positions in the executive branch of the U.S. government. The President of the United States, an elected official, appoints incumbents to these positions, most of them with the advice and consent of the Senate. They include members of the...

.

The mission area helps to ensure the well-being of American agriculture and the American public through efficient and equitable administration of agricultural commodity, farm loan, conservation, environmental, emergency assistance, and domestic and international food assistance programs. It provides and supports cost-effective means of managing risk for agricultural producers in order to improve the economic stability of agriculture. The mission area also represents the diverse interests of the U.S. food and agricultural sector abroad by managing the Department's international activities, addressing market access constraints, and working to expand markets for U.S. agricultural, fish and forest products overseas.

History of the Position

The Department of Agriculture was made a Cabinet-level department in 1889. For many years, the Secretary of Agriculture supervised chiefs of bureaus of the Department, as was the norm throughout the U.S. government. Subsequently, a single subcabinet position of Assistant Secretary was created. Over time, this position was upgraded to Under Secretary, under which in turn was a single Assistant Secretary.

In 1953, Secretary Ezra Taft Benson

Ezra Taft Benson

Ezra Taft Benson was the thirteenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1985 until his death and was United States Secretary of Agriculture for both terms of the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower.-Biography:Born on a farm in Whitney, Idaho, Benson was the oldest of...

 lobbied for the creation of additional Assistant Secretary positions, which Congress approved that summer. Two of these positions, the Assistant Secretary for the Foreign Agricultural Service and the Assistant Secretary for Commodity Marketing and Adjustment, were merged in September 1953, and in December of that year the vacant position was redesignated Assistant Secretary for Stabilization. Between 1953 and 1962 the responsibilities of today's Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services were thus shared by two Assistant Secretaries, for "Stabilization" and for "Marketing and Foreign Agriculture". The former oversaw the Commodity Stabilization Service and its successors, including the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service

Farm Service Agency

The Farm Service Agency is the USDA agency into which were merged several predecessor agencies, including the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service . The ASCS was, as the FSA is now, primarily tasked with the implementation of farm conservation and regulation laws around the country...

, while the latter oversaw the Agricultural Marketing Service

Agricultural Marketing Service

The Agricultural Marketing Service is a division of the United States Department of Agriculture, and has programs in five commodity areas: cotton and tobacco; dairy; fruit and vegetable; livestock and seed; and poultry...

 and the Foreign Agricultural Service

Foreign Agricultural Service

The Foreign Agricultural Service is the foreign affairs agency with primary responsibility for the United States Department of Agriculture's overseas programs—market development, international trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection of statistics and market information...

. In 1963, the positions were reshuffled, with foreign agriculture (oversight of the Foreign Agricultural Service and the newly created International Agricultural Development Service) assigned to an Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, and marketing and stabilization combined under an Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Consumer Services. In 1969, responsibility for both foreign affairs and farm support (stabilization) programs was consolidated into a single position entitled Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, with marketing remaining under its own, separate Assistant Secretary.

The Agricultural Trade Act of 1978

Agricultural Trade Act of 1978

The the Agricultural Trade Act of 1978 directed the establishment of trade offices in major centers of commerce throughout the world. The agricultural trade offices are operated by the Foreign Agricultural Service to develop, maintain, and expand international markets for U.S...

 upgraded the Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs to Under Secretary. At the time, it was the only Under Secretary-level subcabinet position in USDA, as the official previously called Under Secretary had been retitled as Deputy Secretary, in keeping with common U.S. government practice. Subsequent USDA reorganizations, notably that of 1994, upgraded most USDA subcabinet officials to Under Secretary status, however.

Dorothy Jacobson, a longtime aide to Orville Freeman

Orville Freeman

Orville Lothrop Freeman was an American Democratic politician who served as the 29th Governor of Minnesota from January 5, 1955 to January 2, 1961, and as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture from 1961 to 1969 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson...

, was the first woman appointed to one of these positions, in 1964. This made her the first woman to serve in a subcabinet position in USDA.

Another former assistant secretary, James T. Ralph, was a figure in the Billie Sol Estes

Billie Sol Estes

Billie Sol Estes is an American former financier best known for his association with U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Mr. Estes currently lives in Granbury, Texas.-Fraud charges:...

 scandal and was forced to leave Federal service. This scandal led directly to the 1963 shakeup of USDA, a reassignment of responsibilities for oversight of commodity programs, and investigation of allegations of corrupt activities by state-level employees of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service

Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service

Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service was an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture. It administered programs concerning farm products and agricultural conservation...

.

Past and Present Incumbents

Eisenhower Administration
Romeo Ennis Short, Assistant Secretary for the Foreign Agricultural Service, July 21, 1953-September 28, 1953	John H. Davis, Assistant Secretary for Commodity Marketing and Adjustment, February 1953-July 31, 1954 (took over foreign agriculture in October 1953)
Ross Rizley Ross Rizley Ross Rizley was a U.S. Representative from Oklahoma.Ross Rizley was born on July 5, 1892 on a farm near Beaver, Oklahoma. He was educated in public schools, and taught in the rural schools of Beaver County, Oklahoma, in 1909 and 1910... , Assistant Secretary, December 1953-December 1954	Earl Butz Earl Butz Earl Lauer "Rusty" Butz was a United States government official who served as Secretary of Agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.- Background :... , Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Foreign Agriculture, July 31, 1954-July 31, 1957
James A. McConnell, Assistant Secretary for Stabilization, January 1955-December 1955	Don Paarlberg Don Paarlberg Donald "Don" Paarlberg was a farmer, author, professor of agricultural economics, and a coordinator of the Food for Peace program.-Education:... , Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Foreign Agriculture, July 31, 1957-September 1958
Marvin L. McLain, Assistant Secretary for Agricultural Stabilization, ?1956-1961?	Clarence Ludlow Miller, Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Foreign Agriculture, February 1959-January 1961
Kennedy – Johnson Administrations
James Tyree Ralph, Assistant Secretary for Agricultural Stabilization, January 1961-March 1962 (fired for accepting gifts from Billie Sol Estes Billie Sol Estes Billie Sol Estes is an American former financier best known for his association with U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson. Mr. Estes currently lives in Granbury, Texas.-Fraud charges:... ; Sec. Freeman subsequently shook up the USDA assistant secretary responsibilities)	John Duncan, Jr., for Marketing and Foreign Agriculture, January 1961-July 1963 (assumed Stabilization after Ralph was fired, effective July 18, 1962)
Roland R. Renne, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, March 1963 to March 1964	George L. Mehren, Assistant Secretary for Marketing and Consumer Services, August 1963-1968 (this included responsibility for agricultural stabilization)
Dorothy Houston Jacobson, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs, March 20, 1964-1969?

Nixon-Ford Administrations (foreign agriculture and agricultural stabilization merged under one assistant secretary)

Clarence D. Palmby, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, January 1969-June 1972

Carroll G. Brunthaver, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, June 1972-January 1974

Clayton Keith Yeutter Clayton Keith Yeutter Clayton Keith Yeutter served as United States Secretary of Agriculture under President George H. W. Bush from 1989 to 1991 before serving as Counselor to the President in 1992. He served as United States Trade Representative from 1985 to 1989 and as Chairman for the Republican National Committee... , Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, March 1974-1975

Richard E. Bell, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, July 1975-1977

Carter Administration

Dale E. Hathaway, Assistant Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, April 1977-1981

position elevated to Under Secretary status in 1978 by Act of Congress

Reagan Administration

Seeley G. Lodwick, Under Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, 1981-January 1983

Daniel Gordon Amstutz Dan Amstutz Daniel G. Amstutz was a U.S. government official and grain-trading industry executive who played a prominent role during negotiation of the Uruguay Round of General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade rules on agriculture, and in the U.S. occupation of Iraq.- Early years :Amstutz was born November 8,... , Under Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, May 1983-August 1987

George H.W. Bush Administration

Richard T. Crowder Richard T. Crowder Ambassador Richard T. "Dick" Crowder served as Chief Agricultural Negotiator in the Office of the United States Trade Representative and as Under Secretary of Agriculture for International Affairs and Commodity Programs.... , Under Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, April 1989-July 1992

Clinton Administration

Eugene Moos, Under Secretary for International Affairs and Commodity Programs, March 1993-1997

International Affairs and Commodity Programs renamed Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services in 1994 reorganization, authorized by Act of Congress

August Schumacher, Jr. August Schumacher, Jr. 'Born August Schumacher, Jr., Gus Schumacher currently serves as the VP of Policy at the Wholesome Wave Foundation in Westport, CT.-Career:Gus Schumacher is currently a member of the 21st Century Sustainable Agricultural Task Force of the National Academy of Sciences... , Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, 1997-2001

George W. Bush Administration

J.B. Penn, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, May 2001-August 21, 2006

Mark Everett Keenum, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, 2007-January 2009

Obama Administration

James W. Miller, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, April 8, 2009-January 2011

See also

• Commodity Credit Corporation
  Commodity Credit Corporation
  The Commodity Credit Corporation is a wholly owned government corporation created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices"...
  
  
• Farm Service Agency
  Farm Service Agency
  The Farm Service Agency is the USDA agency into which were merged several predecessor agencies, including the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service . The ASCS was, as the FSA is now, primarily tasked with the implementation of farm conservation and regulation laws around the country...
  
  
• Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
  Federal Crop Insurance Corporation
  The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation is a wholly owned Government corporation managed by the Risk Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. FCIC manages the Federal crop insurance program which provides U.S...
  
  
• Foreign Agricultural Service
  Foreign Agricultural Service
  The Foreign Agricultural Service is the foreign affairs agency with primary responsibility for the United States Department of Agriculture's overseas programs—market development, international trade agreements and negotiations, and the collection of statistics and market information...
  
  
• Risk Management Agency
  Risk Management Agency
  The Risk Management Agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture helps producers manage their business risks through effective, market-based risk management solutions. RMA's mission is to promote, support, and regulate sound risk management solutions to preserve and strengthen the economic...
  
  
• Trade Policy Committee
  Trade Policy Committee
  The Trade Policy Committee is the senior U.S. Government interagency trade committee established to provide broad guidance on trade issues. It is chaired by the U.S. Trade Representative and is composed of other cabinet officers, including the Secretary of Agriculture...
  
  

Biographic Information

• Iowa Legislature biography of Seeley G. Lodwick
• Virginia Tech announcement about Richard T. Crowder
• Virginia Tech press release about Richard T. Crowder
• Nominations of Eugene Moos, James S. Gilliland, and Ellen W. Haas : hearing before the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, United States Senate, One Hundred Third Congress, first session
• The biography of August Schumacher
• Forbes Profile of August Schumacher
• The biography of J.B. Penn
• USDA Profile of J.B. Penn
• The biography of Mark Keenum
• Mississippi State University biographic sketch of Mark Keenum
• President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts (includes short biographic sketch of James W. Miller)
• Biographic sketch of James W. Miller
• Agriculture Subcabinet Members Take Oath of Office
• Conrad Bolsters Staff in Prep for Farm Bill, USDA Under Secretary Jim Miller Will Return to Hill as Senator's Top Ag Aide

Legislation

• Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994

Newspapers

• Washington Post, January 20, 1953, "Coke Heads New Appointees Named to Agriculture Department"
• Washington Post, January 23, 1953, "Benson Cuts Agriculture to 4 Groups"
• New York Times, March 26, 1953, "President Submits Agriculture Plan"
• New York Times, July 12, 1953, "2 Named Farm Department Aides"
• Washington Post, July 12, 1953, "Two Named To New Posts at Agriculture"
• New York Times, July 17, 1953, "Senate Confirms Four"
• Washington Post, September 29, 1953, "Benson Giving States Bigger Farm Role"
• Los Angeles Times, September 29, 1953, "Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Resigns"
• New York Times, October 14, 1953, "Benson Outlines Bureau's Revision"
• Washington Post, October 14, 1953, "Benson Acts To Reshuffle Department"
• New York Times, December 17, 1953, "Rizley Named Agriculture Aide"
• New York Times, December 18, 1953, "An Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Is Sworn"
• Wall Street Journal, January 20, 1954, "Agriculture Department Aide Will Quit For Harvard Post"
• New York Times, February 12, 1954, "High Benson Aide Quits Farm 'Team'; 9th of 12 To Leave"
• Chicago Daily Tribune, July 29, 1954, "Becker Receives Senate Approval For Customs Post"
• New York Times, July 30, 1954, "U.S. Agriculture Aide Sworn"
• New York Times, December 3, 1954, "Agriculture Aide Resigns"
• New York Times, January 13, 1955, "New Yorker Is Chosen for Agriculture Post"
• New York Times, December 25, 1955, "Resign From Government Posts"
• New York Times, June 9, 1957, "Agriculture Aide Resigns"
• Chicago Daily Tribune, July 2, 1957, "Ex-Prof Named to Agriculture Post"
• New York Times, November 28, 1958, "Farm Post Slated For Tobacco Man"
• Christian Science Monitor, February 7, 1959, "Kentucky Man Confirmed for U.S. Agriculture Post"
• Washington Post, October 27, 1960, "Resignation of McLain, Benson Aide, Accepted"
• Los Angeles Times, January 22, 1961, "U.S. Farming Post Given To Californian"
• Washington Post, May 16, 1962, "Ralph Fired in Probe of Estes Dealings"
• New York Times, June 9, 1962, "Ousted Career Man: James Tyree Ralph"
• Washington Post, July 18, 1962, "Baker Made Assistant at Agriculture as Welch, Second This Year, Goes Out"
• Washington Post, November 16, 1962, "Freeman Reorganizes Stabilization Controls"
• Washington Post, January 25, 1963, "Agriculture Aide Named By President"
• Washington Post, March 2, 1963, "Brownstein and Renne Confirmed"
• New York Times, July 2, 1963, "Agriculture Aide to Quit"
• Los Angeles Times, August 16, 1963, "UC Professor Nominated for Farm Post"
• New York Times, August 27, 1963, "Senate Confirms Mehren As Agriculture Assistant"
• New York Times, March 21, 1964, "2 Women Appointed to Leading U.S. Jobs"
• Christian Science Monitor, April 4, 1964, "Women in Government"
• Los Angeles Times, August 5, 1968, "Mrs. Dorothy Jacobson Plays Aide's Role in Agriculture"
• Washington Post, January 7, 1969, "Ex-Democrat Named Aide to Hardin"
• New York Times, June 1, 1972, “Agriculture Aide to Resign”
• Washington Post, June 1, 1972, “Grain Expert Palmby Leaving Government”
• Chicago Tribune, December 13, 1972, “4 Butz Assistants Quit in Shakeup of Department”
• New York Times, January 18, 1974, “Agriculture Assistant Plans To Resign at End of Month”
• Washington Post, January 18, 1974, “Brunthaver to Quit Post With 'Clear Conscience'”
• New York Times, May 30, 1975, “People and Business”
• Washington Post, July 23, 1975, “USDA Export Post Assumed by Bell”
• New York Times, January 25, 1977, “Consumer Advocate Seen in Line To Head New Agriculture Division”
• Washington Post, July 5, 1978, “Trying to Lead the USDA Through the Thicket of Politics”
• New York Times, March 29, 1981, “Reagan Appointees to Push Use of Natural Resources”
• Washington Post, January 6, 1983, “Inside: Agriculture”
• Wall Street Journal, May 2, 1983, “Amstutz Is Nominated For Agriculture Post”
• Washington Post, May 4, 1983, “The Federal Triangle”
• New York Times, May 29, 1987, “Key Agriculture Official Leaving Reagan Ranks”
• Washington Post, May 29, 1987, “Top Aide At USDA Resigning”
• Washington Post, April 11, 1989, “Today in Congress”
• New York Times, July 2, 1992, “Farm-Trade Aide Resigns”
• Washington Post, July 3, 1992, “Talking Points: No. 3 Official at Agriculture is Resigning as of July 20”
• Washington Post, March 9, 1993, “When Is a Senior Official Just an Official? When There Are Holes in the Defense Team”
• AgWeek, January 25, 2011, "Miller Leaving USDA Post"

USDA Documents

• Secretary's Memorandum 1320 of January 21, 1953, with Supplements 1 through 5
• Secretary's Memorandum 1446 of February 24, 1961, with Supplements 1 through 4