Secretary of Agriculture

photo of two US Army soldiers and a Bradley fighting vehicle parked in front of USDA headquarters, on which hangs a long banner featuring an image of President Donald Trump

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

September 2, 2025

Trump Appointees “Reorganize” the USDA, Putting the Department’s Mission at Risk

Karen Perry Stillerman
Deputy Director

photo of a person in a grocery store bending down to reach a carton of eggs. There are a handful of cartons of different colors on the lowest shelves but most of the shelves are empty.

Joe Raedle/Getty Images

March 13, 2025

What Does Science Have to Do with the Price of Eggs?

Karen Perry Stillerman
Deputy Director

Brooke Rollins stands at a podium with a presidential seal on it and speaks to an unseen audience through a microphone; behind her are a group of people including Donald Trump, and a set of four US flags

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

January 21, 2025

Trump’s Pick to Lead the USDA, Brooke Rollins, Is Inexperienced, Anti-Science, and Extremist

Karen Perry Stillerman
Deputy Director

photo of sign for the US Department of Agriculture Whitten Building in Washington, DC; the building is in the background, among trees, a garden, and walkway

Melissa Kopka/Getty Images

September 30, 2024

It’s Time to Institutionalize Equity at the Department of Agriculture

DeShawn L. Blanding
Senior Washington Representative

photo of a smiling US Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack holding copies of the 2023 interim report by the USDA Equity Commission; he is flanked by one female and one male member of the commission who are both applauding; the US flag and the USDA flag are in the background

Tom Witham/USDA

March 2, 2023

Will an Equity Commission Report Address Systemic Racism at the USDA?

Alice Reznickova
Former Contributor

Fruits and vegetables of all sorts are inspected by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agriculture Marketing Service (AMS) Market News Reporters and Specialty Crop Inspectors at the Terminal Market in Chicago, April 26, 2019.

Preston Keres, USDA/Flickr

December 15, 2022

Latest Round of USDA Climate-Smart Grantmaking is Both Better and More of the Same

Omanjana Goswami
Interdisciplinary Scientist

photo of many black and white cows in a barn; two of the cows in the foreground have a tag attached to one ear

December 8, 2022

As the USDA Invests in “Climate-Smart” Agriculture, It’s Hard to Follow the Money

Omanjana Goswami
Interdisciplinary Scientist

November 11, 2018

On Veterans Day, Why Aren’t Congress and the USDA Looking Out for Those Who Served?

Karen Perry Stillerman
Deputy Director

Cristie Guevara/public domain (BY CC0

October 17, 2017

USDA Reorganization Sidelines Dietary Guidelines

Sarah Reinhardt
Former Contributor

May 9, 2017

How Oats Could Save Iowa’s Farmers (and Fight Pollution)

Karen Perry Stillerman
Deputy Director

Scott Bauer/USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

April 25, 2017

Five Ways President Trump Has Failed Rural America in the First 100 Days

Karen Perry Stillerman
Deputy Director

Photo: US Agency for International Development/CC BY-NC 2.0, Flickr

March 16, 2017

Food Production Does NOT Need to Double by 2050 (And Other Required Reading for the Next USDA Secretary)

Karen Perry Stillerman
Deputy Director

Governor Sonny Perdue on a visit to Uruguay in 2010. Photo courtesy of Pablo Castro, US Embassy Montevideo/flickr

January 24, 2017

The Fox Who Will Guard the Nation’s Henhouses (And Five Questions the Senate Should Ask Him)

Karen Perry Stillerman
Deputy Director

Kristin & Jordan Hayman/flickr

January 13, 2017

Even Without an Agriculture Secretary, Trump’s Cabinet Says Plenty about Food and Water Plans

Karen Perry Stillerman
Deputy Director