The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of comme ...

. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of

agriculture minister An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister ...

s in other governments. The department includes several organizations. The 297,000 mi² (770,000 km²) of national forests and grasslands are managed by the

United States Forest Service The United States Forest Service (USFS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 154 United States National Forest, national forests and 20 United States Nationa ...

. The safety of food produced and sold in the United States is ensured by the United States Food Safety and Inspection Service. The

Food Stamp Program In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people. It is a federal aid program, ad ...

works with the states to provide food to low-income people. Secretary of Agriculture is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning a salary of US$221,400, as of January 2021. Since February 24, 2021, the current secretary is Tom Vilsack, who had previously served as the 30th secretary of agriculture in the

Obama administration Barack Obama's tenure as the 44th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 2009, and ended on January 20, 2017. A Democrat from Illinois, Obama took office following a decisive victory over Republican ...

List of secretaries of agriculture

When the Department of Agriculture was established in 1862, its executive was a non-Cabinet position called the commissioner of agriculture. The commissioners of agriculture were: The position of secretary of agriculture was created when the department was elevated to Cabinet status in 1889. The following is a list of secretaries of agriculture, since the creation of the office in 1889. ; Parties (14) (18) Status

Line of succession

The line of succession for the secretary of agriculture is as follows: # Deputy Secretary of Agriculture # Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services #Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Administration # Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services # Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics #

Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety The Under Secretary for Food Safety is a subcabinet position within the United States Department of Agriculture responsible for oversight of the policies and programs of the Food Safety and Inspection Service. The Under Secretary chairs the U.S. Co ...

Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment The Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment, or USA(NRE), is a high-ranking official in the United States Department of Agriculture and the principal advisor to the United States Secretary of Agriculture on policy to ...

# Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development # Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs #General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture #Chief of Staff, Office of the Secretary #State Executive Directors of the

Farm Service Agency The Farm Service Agency (FSA) is the United States Department of Agriculture agency that was formed by merging the farm loan portfolio and staff of the Farmers Home Administration (FmHA) and the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service ...

(in order of seniority by length of unbroken tenure) for the States of: #* California #* Iowa #* Kansas #Regional Administrators of the

Food and Nutrition Service The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). The FNS is the federal agency responsible for administering the nation’s domestic nutrition assistance programs. The service helps to add ...

(in order of seniority by length of unbroken tenure) for the: #*Mountain Plains Regional Office (

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

) #*Midwest Regional Office (

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

) #*Western Regional Office (

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

, California) #Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Agriculture #Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights #Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Congressional Relations

References

External links

* , - {{US Presidential Line of Succession

Agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

Secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

1889 establishments in the United States