Biden Throws Vilsack Back Into USDA Food-Policy Fight

Mr. Vilsack led the USDA through President Barack Obama’s two terms and has traction with both farm and food constituencies. He also has an established relationship with Mr. Biden, who settled on Mr. Vilsack as a veteran agriculture official who, if confirmed, could immediately take charge of the sprawling agency, according to a transition spokesman.

Mr. Vilsack’s selection drew both praise and criticism from agriculture and food-security groups, signaling the battles ahead for the agency as it guides farmers and consumers out of the pandemic.

“The challenges are astonishing,” said Andrew Novaković, a Cornell University emeritus professor of agricultural economics who worked for the USDA during Mr. Vilsack’s tenure.

The USDA, with a 2020 budget of about $153 billion, presides over nearly every aspect of the nation’s food production. It regulates genetically engineered seeds, insures farmers’ crops, promotes agricultural exports and inspects slaughterhouses.

The USDA also supervises how Americans eat, helping set U.S. dietary guidelines and managing the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly administered via food stamps. Mr. Biden faced pressure from some consumer groups to pick someone with a focus on food aid after the pandemic sent U.S. unemployment to its highest level since World War II and families converged on food banks around the country.

“Secretary Vilsack’s proven track record of prioritizing federal nutrition programs and supporting U.S. growers and producers will be critical in helping communities that are hurting now,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, chief executive of hunger-relief organization Feeding America. Mr. Vilsack served on the board of directors of its national office following his tenure at USDA.

However, farmer and worker organization Family Farm Action said Mr. Vilsack had a record of catering to big agriculture and food companies, raising questions as to how he would give priority to struggling communities.

Mr. Vilsack is committed to promoting equity and inclusion across all of the agency’s missions, a Biden transition spokesman said.

Since early 2017 Mr. Vilsack has been chief executive of the U.S. Dairy Export Council, a farmer-funded group. Returning to the USDA would set Mr. Vilsack up to become the second-longest-serving secretary in the agency’s history.

Mr. Vilsack, 69 years old, was born into an orphanage and adopted in 1951. A native of Pittsburgh, he practiced law in Mount Pleasant, Iowa and served as that city’s mayor and in Iowa’s state senate. Mr. Vilsack then served as Iowa governor for eight years, stepping down in 2007.

As secretary, Mr. Vilsack would face the task of further shoring up the U.S. farm sector. When he exited the USDA in early 2017, the U.S. farm economy was on the skids, with net farm income down 40% from a record high four years earlier because of successive bumper crops that swelled supplies and pushed down prices.

Since then, agricultural markets were battered during President Trump’s trade battles with China, Mexico and Canada, leading the Trump administration to boost government payments to farmers to historic highs.

In a September interview, Mr. Vilsack said the U.S. farm sector’s current reliance on government aid to weather disruptions from trade disputes and the Covid-19 pandemic showed the need for new policies that support a more resilient farm sector.

“I don’t think most farmers want government payments,” said Mr. Vilsack, at the time an adviser to the Biden campaign.

Mr. Novaković, the emeritus professor, said USDA often doesn’t have direct control over policy decisions that touch on some of the thorniest topics facing agriculture, such as trade, labor and climate change. “This is where a personal relationship with Joe Biden could be particularly helpful,” he said.

Mr. Vilsack said in September that under a Biden administration the USDA could set up regional food-supply markets and direct federal incentives to farmers who adopt climate-friendly practices.

Farm trade groups, representing corn and soybean producers as well as meatpackers and organic farmers, welcomed Mr. Vilsack’s selection. They said his prior leadership of the agency would help farmers navigate the pandemic.

Groups representing minority farmers and food chain workers said they worried how much Mr. Vilsack would do to advance their cause, pointing to past criticisms of the agency’s treatment of minority groups.

A Biden transition spokesman said Mr. Vilsack during his USDA tenure increased lending to disadvantaged farmers, and is committed to recognizing and eliminating discriminatory practices.

John Boyd, president of the National Black Farmers Association, who campaigned for Mr. Biden and worked with his transition team, said, “I wanted someone new.”

Write to Jesse Newman at [email protected] and Jacob Bunge at [email protected]