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Harvest Public Media is a reporting collaboration focused on issues of food, fuel and field. Based at KCUR in Kansas City, Missouri, Harvest covers agriculture-related topics through a network of reporters and partner stations throughout the Midwest.

Midwest Farmers Hope New Ag Secretary Advocates For Trade

Bruce Tuten, flickr Creative Commons
Former Georgia governor Sonny Perdue

President-elect Donald Trump named former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue as his pick for Secretary of Agriculture on Thursday. Harvest Public Media’s Kristofor Husted reports on what it means for farmers in the Midwest.

If confirmed, Perdue will have to take on a new farm bill, immigration issues and the big whammy: trade.

Blake Hurst, a farmer and president of the Missouri farm Bureau, says Midwest farmers hope Perdue will be amenable to learning more about their interests. He wants Perdue to understand the importance of trade deals, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, to Midwest producers.

"Our agriculture’s best interests may not always line up with the Trump administration's, so I am hoping that he will be an advocate for trade and increasing trade," Hurst says.

Agriculture exports accounted for more than $130 billion in 2015.

Kristofor Husted is a senior reporter at KBIA in Columbia, Mo. Previously Husted reported for NPR’s Science Desk in Washington and Harvest Public Media. Husted was a 2013 fellow with the Institute for Journalism and Natural Resources and a 2015 fellow for the Institute for Journalism and Justice. He’s won regional and national Edward R. Murrow, PRNDI and Sigma Delta Chi awards. Husted also is an instructor at the Missouri School of Journalism. He received a B.S. in cell biology from UC Davis and an M.S. in journalism from Northwestern University.