DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey has been elected to serve on Executive Committee of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) during their recent annual meeting in Montgomery, Alabama. This position places Northey on track to serve as the organization’s President in 2011 to 2012.
“NASDA gives the state departments of agriculture a unified voice on national agricultural issues and provides an important voice during public policy discussions,” Northey said. “I’m excited about the opportunity and look forward to continuing to work with the board and all NASDA members on issues important to agriculture in Iowa and across the nation.”
NASDA is a nonprofit, nonpartisan association that represents the commissioners, secretaries, and directors of the state departments of agriculture in all fifty states and four U.S. territories. As regulators of significant aspects of our nation’s agriculture industry, NASDA members are actively involved in ensuring the safety of an abundant food supply, protection of animal and plant health, stewardship of our environment, and promoting the vitality of our rural communities.
Other changes in organization’s leadership include the selection of Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Ed Kee as NASDA President, Utah Commissioner Leonard Blackham selected as First Vice president, and Oklahoma Commissioner Terry Peach as Secretary-Treasurer.
Other members elected to NASDA's Board of Directors include the presidents of the four NASDA regions: Maine Agriculture Commissioner Seth Bradstreet representing the Northeastern region (NEASDA); U.S. Virgin Islands Agriculture Commissioner Louis Petersen from the Southern region (SASDA); Ohio Agriculture Director Robert Boggs representing the Midwestern region (MASDA); and Montana Agriculture Director Ron de Yong representing the Western region (WASDA).
Minnesota Agriculture Commissioner Gene Hugoson will serve as the at-large representative and Alabama Commissioner Ron Sparks remains on the board as immediate past president.
Northey, a corn and soybean farmer from Spirit Lake, is serving his first term as Secretary of Agriculture. His priorities as Secretary of Agriculture are the opportunities in renewable energy, conservation and stewardship, and telling the story of Iowa agriculture.
