Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue over the weekend continued his outreach to the Midwest as he completed his second week on the job. The former Georgia Governor met with farmers in Iowa Friday, then toured flooded-out areas of Arkansas over the weekend. Perdue was slated to give his first major farm policy speech in Iowa Friday. But, noting that his staff had written him a 17-page speech, Perdue asked the crowd, “Would you rather have me do that or talk from my heart?” His message was similar to the message he delivered to farmers a week prior in Kansas City, Missouri. He did pledge support for the Renewable Fuel Standard and beef exports. While touring flooded areas of Arkansas on Sunday, the Agriculture Secretary said: “We’ll do everything in our power” to help farmers impacted by the flooding.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.