Iowa farmer-leader Northey describes time at USDA

IFT: What are you doing now?

NORTHEY: I recently started work as executive director for the Iowa Agricultural Business Association. It’s a professional association of about 200 agricultural retailers. It’s a mix of companies who are involved in fertilizer, manufacturing, crop inputs and other aspects of agriculture. The organization was formed about 30 years ago when the Iowa Fertilizer and Chemical Association merged with the Iowa Feed and Grain Association.

IFT: Tell us a bit about your background. Where did you grow up and how did you get involved in farming and in farm organizations?

NORTHEY: I grew up near Spirit Lake, in northwest Iowa. After graduating from Iowa State University I started farming with my grandfather, Sid Northey. He was 81, but he was out there every day. It was a great experience to spend time with him and learn his philosophy of farming. That was really good for me.

When I was still in my 20s I started getting involved in the local Farm Bureau. It was about that time that the ICGA was trying to form a county organization in Dickinson County, and Rod Williamson set up a meeting. I ended up being the only one who showed up at the meeting. I’m sure he thought at the time that it was a waste of his time, but I look at is as proof that you don’t always realize the value of a conversation. Somehow I got elected to the ICGA state board while I was still in my 20s. I had the luck to learn from ICGA leaders like Varel Baily and Riley Gillette and Daryl McLaren. Eventually I served as ICGA president and NCGA president. That was a really good experience.

IFT: What happened after your NCGA presidency?

NORTHEY: I came back to the farm and earned an MBA while serving on the Commission on 21st Century Agriculture. In 2005 Patty Judge announced she was running for governor, so I knew the Iowa Secretary of Agriculture job would be open. I decided to run for that. I was fortunate enough to win that election, but it was very close. I held that job for 11 years, before the USDA offer came.

IFT: Tell us about that process?

NORTHEY: I had a dream job as Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, but I decided the idea of working at USDA was something I couldn’t refuse. Someone from Secretary Perdue’s office called and I met with him. After talking with him I felt like I could work for this guy. The vetting process for that type of job is long and complicated. I had to rent the farm out — do it as cash rent to eliminate any conflicts of interest. I had a person from the department helping me to learn about the job and the department. They call them sherpas. And then I prepared for my Senate confirmation hearing with a group of people who would grill me before I went before the committee. They called the preparation group the murder board. The hearings themselves went fine, but then Sen. Ted Cruz put a hold on my nomination because he was upset about ethanol issues. Eventually they worked out a deal and I got approved but it all took time.

IFT: Tell us about your USDA work.

NORTHEY: I was in charge of the Farm Service Agency, the Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Risk Management Agency. Prior to that NRCS was not under this position but the Foreign Agricultural Service was, so that was a change. We really didn’t advocate for policy. My job was to implement programs and get information out to farmers. Of course, that was about the time the trade wars started and we were tasked with implementing programs to help farmers through that challenge. The 2018 farm bill was also passed and we were making rules and trying to implement those programs. Then COVID hit and we were dealing with programs to help farmers through that as well. And in the midst of all this in 2018 there was also a government shutdown. I don’t think people outside government understand how huge a waste of resources a government shutdown is. Departments can’t make any long-term plans. Programs are stopped and re-started. Decisions have to be made on who keeps working and who doesn’t. It’s very wasteful. And the continuing resolutions aren’t much better.

IFT: You mentioned the trade aid and the COVID aid. There was some controversy about those programs not going through Congress and instead being implemented by USDA without any Congressional approval. Was that a concern?

NORTHEY: There was support for farmers in Congress, but the politics was difficult. Some lawmakers wanted to help farmers but didn’t want to be seen as enabling the trade war.

IFT: What happened after the election?

NORTHEY: There is still a job to do. You’ve got to finish what you are doing. The Biden transition team came in and we talked to them. They were a good crew of folks. Our job wasn’t to tell them what to do. Our job was to educate them about the duties and the department so they can do their jobs when they take office. We worked right through Jan. 20 and, of course, we had to name interim people for all the positions until the next administration can get their people in place. After that my wife Cindy and I loaded up the pickup and headed back to Iowa.

IFT: What are some of the lessons you learned at the NCGA and the Iowa Department of Agriculture and the USDA?

NORTHEY: I think when you travel internationally or even around the country you realize the importance of Iowa in agriculture. Wherever you travel, when people talk about Iowa they talk about agriculture. In all those jobs I think you also learn some humility. You have to learn to admit mistakes and then try to fix them. Things are not perfect and not everything you do will be perfect.

IFT: What do you see as some of the big issues in agriculture today?

NORTHEY: Water quality and conservation are big. I would argue the discussion has evolved into one about sustainability. We have to learn how to be both environmentally and economically sustainable. As time goes on we’ll develop better tools and things will change. We don’t know what this will look like but it probably won’t look like what we think now.