UNDATED (KELO AM) South Dakota State Agriculture Secretary Mike Jaspers sounds relieved that Donald Trump has finally picked someone to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue was the last cabinet pick.
"My initial thought is that, thank goodness, we finally have a Secretary of Agriculture nominee" Jaspers tells KELO Radio's It's Your Business Show. Jaspers says he doesn't know Perdue personally, but he's heard good things about Perdue from other organizations.
The South Dakota Farm Bureau is "very pleased" with Perdue.
"We think he could be very good for agriculture. He's an agriculturist by trade. He's a veternarian, actually, by training, so he's been in agriculture all his life," says Farm Bureau President Scott VanderWal describing the Former Georgia Governor.
VanderWal says he's not disappointed that Trump didn't pick someone from the Midwest to head USDA. He says we're all in this together and that Governor Perdue has promised to work for interests of producers nationwide.
VanderWal says Perdue's biggest priorities, if confirmed, should be falling commodity prices and the impact of trade deals on farmers and ranchers.
South Dakota U.S. Senator Mike Rounds says he knows Perdue personally, from when they were both governors.
"I think the world of Sonny."
Rounds says not being from the Midwest, Perdue's emphasis may not be on some of the crops in the region, but he gets "the Big Picture."