Former North Dakota Governor Edward T. Schafer, 61, has been named agriculture secretary by President Bush.
“Ed Schafer is the right choice to fill this post,” Bush said at the White House. He would succeed Mike Johanns, who resigned six weeks ago to run for the Senate from Nebraska. Schafer would be the first agriculture secretary from the Upper Midwest since Bob Bergland in the Carter era.
The nomination of Schafer, the grandson of Danish immigrants who farmed the North Dakota plains, comes as Congress is moving toward passing a new $288 billion farm bill. The Senate version of the bill, passed out of committee two weeks ago, would make modest changes to subsidy programs intended to provide financial security to farmers.
During eight years as North Dakota governor, Schafer promoted economic growth, cut the state payroll and increased education funding. He was the first Republican governor to win re-election in state history. He supported biofuels and farm exports. In 2000, he returned to private business.
Schafer has a “good working knowledge” of agriculture from his tenure as governor of a state where farming is the leading industry, although Schafer is a business executive by training. He has a master’s degree in business administration from Denver University.