Iowa Senator Charles Grassley is pressing for a Midwesterner to be named the number two person in the U-S Department of Agriculture. Grassley and others have expressed concerns after President-Elect Bush picked a Californian to be the next Ag Secretary. Grassley says in recent memory, when a Californian’s been tapped to head the U-S-D-A, someone from the Midwest has been tapped as top deputy.Grassley says having the U-S-D-A’s top deputy be a Midwesterner will be important to press for the perspective of family farms, as well as the benefits of the so-called “Freedom to Farm” law.Grassley met with Ag Secretary designee Ann Veneman last week, and reminded her of words Bush uttered on the campaign trail that he would support family farmers. Veneman grew up on a peach farm in California.
