President Bush today selected Nebraska Governor Mike Johanns (R) to be the next secretary of Agriculture. If confirmed by the Senate, Johanns will take over the agency from Ann Veneman, who announced her resignation last month.

Farmland conservation and forestry groups have said they expect little change in the direction of the administration on forest policy issues. But the next agriculture secretary could usher in a new realm in farm policy as Congress begins to debate the 2007 farm bill.

“Governor Johanns has some challenges ahead of him in terms of managing farm program spending and writing the 2007 farm bill,” said National Pork Producers Council President Keith Berry. “But we believe with his knowledge and experience, he is more than up to the task.”

Ralph Grossi, president of American Farmland Trust, said he was hopeful that Johanns could further bolster farmland conservation, which critics say USDA has failed to champion at a level needed to support the nation’s farming community. “We believe that Governor Johann’s experience with Nebraska’s agriculture producers and his many farm trade missions can help develop new policies that enable more farmers to manage risk, create new markets at home and abroad, reward environmental stewardship, give consumers healthier food choices, and provide more return to the taxpayer,” Grossi said.

“We especially are hopeful that he will lead the effort to reform U.S. farm policy with the next farm bill,” Grossi added. “With his leadership, we can craft a bill that is a win-win for agriculture and the environment as well as farmers and consumers.”

Johanns, 54, was born in Iowa and raised on a dairy farm, but has spent much of his adult life in public service. He is a lawyer and served in county and city government before becoming mayor of Lincoln, Neb., in 1991, and then governor in 1998. He was the first Republican in more than 40 years to win re-election in Nebraska in 2002, when he took 69 percent of the vote.