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Nebraska governor will serve agriculture well at USDA

Those who know him think Mike Johanns is one of the good guys, and more importantly, they think he’ll be a good for American agriculture.

The Nebraska governor is President George W. Bush’s nominee to be the next secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Various Nebraska farm leaders say Johanns has the personality and the experience to do the job well.

"He’s a quiet leader; a good student of the issues who won’t make rash decisions," according to Nebraska Farm Bureau President Keith Olson. Olson called Johanns "a tremendous advocate for agriculture," and proudly noted that Johanns is a Farm Bureau member who "even wears a Farm Bureau tie sometimes."

Mike Leporte has covered Johanns’ political career as farm director at radio station KRVN in Lincoln, Neb. He told Buckeye Farm News that Johanns is "very knowledgeable about agriculture and a very good administrator. He’s very proud of his roots in agriculture and often attributes his work ethic to growing up on a dairy farm in Iowa." Leporte added, "The guy kind of thrives on long days, and I’ve never really seen anybody that approaches the job with the amount of energy and enthusiasm that he has." Leporte also called Johanns a "bridge-builder" who was very successful at bringing together divergent interests on controversial subjects.

That’s a skill that he’ll need in his new job according to John Block, former ag secretary. He believes Johanns "has a lot of heavy lifting to do. We’re going to be writing a farm bill and negotiating trade deals." Block thinks Johanns will succeed because he is "someone who can speak for and speak to agriculture with credibility."

Johanns’ Web site doesn’t shy away from his ties to agriculture. It highlights his leadership of trade missions to various Asian and South American nations, his support of federal drought relief for Nebraska farmers and his work through the National Governor’s Association on topics such as biotechnology, exports, the farm bill and renewable fuels.

Beyond being familiar with farm issues, Leporte said Johanns is very familiar with farm people. Leporte appreciates the fact that when Johanns attends a farm meeting, "he comes early and stays late to talk with people," unlike most politicians who come and go as quickly as possible.

Olson knows his governor will be tested as he deals with Congress, other departments in the administration and the multitude of special interests who all want to influence the secretary of agriculture. When asked about Johann’s ability to deal with the bureaucracy, Olson offered, "I hope they listen to him."