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January 20, 2017
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Perdue tapped to lead USDA
George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III has been selected by President Donald Trump as U.S. secretary of agriculture. The former Georgia governor who will lead the Department of Agriculture has a background in veterinary medicine, as well as grain merchandising, politics and business.
 
"You can use good, sound business principles to run a public entity, and that's what we tried to do in many ways," said Perdue in 2012, when he spoke to the National Grain and Feed Association's Country Elevator Conference in Chicago. Speculation that Perdue, who served on Trump's agriculture advisory board and who is a cousin to U.S. Sen. David Perdue of Georgia, ramped up late last fall after Perdue met with Trump at his headquarters in New York City.
  
 
 
 
Ag groups welcome Perdue pick
Though he shares the same name, George Ervin "Sonny" Perdue III, President Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of agriculture, is not one of "those" Perdues, the family whose famous name is on packages of chicken and turkey. But the National Chicken Council joined with other U.S. agriculture groups and officials in welcoming news of Perdue's selection to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Sonny Perdue
Mike Brown, president National Chicken Council: "Governor Perdue has a strong record as two-term chief executive of Georgia and is acquainted with the wide array of commodities, from chicken and peanuts to cotton and timber. As a veterinarian, agribusiness owner and a governor who established an agricultural advisory committee in Georgia, he understands and appreciates the importance of American agriculture both here and abroad. He is a welcomed choice from the 'Broiler Belt.'"
Seeking migrant labor reforms: Orchard operators see need, uncertainty under Trump
Donald Trump's swearing in as U.S. president has many in Illinois concerned about certain Illinois agricultural issues, especially migrant worker reforms. While Illinois Farm Bureau Legislative Affairs Director Adam Nielsen recently said Trump's reference to building a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border is "symbolic," he also said during a presentation at the 2017 Specialty Crops, Agritourism and Organic Conference that "there will be some interest in getting some immigration bills passed, and there may be an opportunity to do something on ag labor."
 
 2017 Specialty Crops, Agritourism and Organic Conference
Wayne Sirles, vice president of operations at the 144-year-old Rendleman Orchard in Alto Pass, was quick to offer his support to Nielsen. "I actually see in my possible lifetime that we're probably going to have to fold it up because we're wholesale. I'm probably speaking for a lot of wholesale people around there, but if we can't get the people to help with our fruit crop, we're pretty much done," the fifth-generation orchardist said.




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