United States Secretary of Agriculture

Secretary of Agriculture of the United States of America
Seal of the Department of Agriculture
Flag of the Secretary of Agriculture
Incumbent Sonny Perdue since April 25, 2017
United States Department of Agriculture
Style	Mr. Secretary
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	The President
Seat	Washington, D.C., U.S.
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	7 U.S.C. § 2202
Formation	February 15, 1889
First holder	Norman Jay Coleman
Succession	Eighth in the United States Presidential Line of Succession
Deputy	Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
Salary	Executive Schedule, level 1
Website	www.usda.gov

The United States Secretary of Agriculture is the head of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The current secretary is Sonny Perdue, who was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 24, 2017. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers 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 safety of food produced that are produced in the United States and sold here is ensured by the United States Food Safety and Inspection Service. The Food Stamp Program works with the states to provide food to low-income people. Advice for farmers and gardeners is provided by the United States Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service.

The line of succession for the Secretary of Agriculture is as follows:

1. Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
2. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services
3. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs
4. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development
5. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services
6. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment
7. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics
8. Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety
9. General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture
10. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Administration
11. Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Congressional Relations

Secretaries of Agriculture

The following is a list of Secretaries of Agriculture, since the creation of the office in 1889.

Parties

      Democratic       Republican

No.	Portrait	Name	State of Residence	Took Office	Left Office	President(s)
1		Norman J. Coleman	Missouri	February 15, 1889	March 6, 1889		Grover Cleveland
2		Jeremiah M. Rusk	Wisconsin	March 6, 1889	March 6, 1893		Benjamin Harrison
3		J. Sterling Morton	Nebraska	March 7, 1893	March 5, 1897		Grover Cleveland
4		James Wilson	Iowa	March 5, 1897	March 3, 1913		William McKinley
							Theodore Roosevelt
							William Howard Taft
5		David F. Houston	Missouri	March 6, 1913	February 2, 1920		Woodrow Wilson
6		Edwin T. Meredith	Iowa	February 2, 1920	March 4, 1921
7		Henry C. Wallace	Iowa	March 5, 1921	October 25, 1924		Warren G. Harding
							Calvin Coolidge
8		Howard M. Gore	West Virginia	November 22, 1924	March 4, 1925
9		William M. Jardine	Kansas	March 5, 1925	March 4, 1929
10		Arthur M. Hyde	Missouri	March 6, 1929	March 4, 1933		Herbert Hoover
11		Henry A. Wallace	Iowa	March 4, 1933	September 4, 1940		Franklin D. Roosevelt
12		Claude R. Wickard	Indiana	September 5, 1940	June 29, 1945
							Harry S. Truman
13		Clinton P. Anderson	New Mexico	June 30, 1945	May 10, 1948
14		Charles F. Brannan	Colorado	June 2, 1948	January 20, 1953
15		Ezra Taft Benson	Utah	January 21, 1953	January 20, 1961		Dwight D. Eisenhower
16		Orville L. Freeman	Minnesota	January 21, 1961	January 20, 1969		John F. Kennedy
							Lyndon B. Johnson
17		Clifford M. Hardin	Nebraska	January 21, 1969	November 17, 1971		Richard Nixon
18		Earl L. Butz	Indiana	December 2, 1971	October 4, 1976
							Gerald Ford
19		John A. Knebel	Oklahoma	November 4, 1976	January 20, 1977
20		Robert Bergland	Minnesota	January 23, 1977	January 20, 1981		Jimmy Carter
21		John R. Block	Illinois	January 23, 1981	February 14, 1986		Ronald Reagan
22		Richard E. Lyng	California	March 7, 1986	January 21, 1989
23		Clayton K. Yeutter	Nebraska	February 16, 1989	March 1, 1991		George H. W. Bush
24		Edward R. Madigan	Illinois	March 8, 1991	January 20, 1993
25		Mike Espy	Mississippi	January 22, 1993	December 31, 1994		Bill Clinton
26		Dan Glickman	Kansas	March 30, 1995	January 20, 2001
27		Ann M. Veneman	California	January 20, 2001	January 20, 2005		George W. Bush
28		Mike Johanns	Nebraska	January 21, 2005	September 20, 2007
29		Ed Schafer	North Dakota	January 28, 2008	January 20, 2009
30		Tom Vilsack	Iowa	January 20, 2009	January 20, 2017		Barack Obama
31		Sonny Perdue	Georgia	April 25, 2017	Incumbent		Donald Trump

Living former Secretaries of Agriculture

As of December 2024, there are nine living former Secretaries of Agriculture, the oldest being Robert Bergland (1977-1981, born 1928). The most recent Secretary of Agriculture to die was Clifford M. Hardin (1969–1971), on April 4, 2010.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
John A. Knebel	1976–1977	(1936-10-04) October 4, 1936
Robert Bergland	1977–1981	(1928-07-22) July 22, 1928
John R. Block	1981–1986	(1935-02-15) February 15, 1935
Clayton K. Yeutter	1989–1991	(1930-12-10) December 10, 1930
Mike Espy	1993–1994	(1953-11-30) November 30, 1953
Dan Glickman	1995–2001	(1944-11-24) November 24, 1944
Ann Veneman	2001–2005	(1949-06-29) June 29, 1949
Mike Johanns	2005–2007	(1950-06-18) June 18, 1950
Ed Schafer	2008–2009	(1946-08-08) August 8, 1946

See also

• Living former members of the United States Cabinet

External links

• www.usda.gov

United States presidential line of succession
Preceded by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke	8th in line	Succeeded by Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross