Since his inauguration, President Barack Obama has been nominating new members to the cabinet daily, and Iowans can expect to see a familiar face in the executive committee.

Former Iowa governor and state legislator Tom Vilsack has been appointed as Secretary of Agriculture for his second term.

Vilsack goes into his next term facing the worst drought in years, a shrinking budget and a divided Congress with a looming midterm election.

Bruce Babcock, a professor of economics and Cargill Chair of Energy Economics at Iowa State, said Vilsack’s key to success in his second term will greatly depend on the efficiency of the USDA program and how it is managed.

At the 94th annual meeting of the Farm Bureau Federation, Vilsack said in his speech that although unsuccessful in his last term, he will try to pass a five-year farm bill through Congress that will protect and aid farmers, reinvent rural America and promote farming research.

“It’s going to be important for us to continue our story of innovation,” Vilsack said.

Vilsack concluded his speech by thanking the audience.

“I am extraordinarily privileged and honored to have the job as the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and to have another opportunity to continue this work.”

In his first term as Secretary of Agriculture, Vilsack’s biggest accomplishments included pairing with the first lady to start the “Let’s Move” program to combat the fight against childhood obesity and promote exercise in public schools.

Dermot Hayes, professor of economics and Pioneer Hi-Bred International chairman in agribusiness at Iowa State, said Vilsack has shifted the focus away from commodities to local foods.

“He changed the culture of the USDA,” Hayes said.

Babcock said Vilsack’s negotiation with crop insurance companies in his last term was a victory for taxpayers. “It was the first time anything like this had happened,” he said.

Hayes and Babcock both work for the Center for Agriculture and Rural Development, a national institute of food and agriculture policy research, located on campus.

Babcock serves as the director of the facility.

Vilsack has also promoted diversity within the USDA, confronted the fight with the obesity epidemic and improved food safety in the United States.