‘Revolving door’ politics could threaten Iowa’s small farmers

WASHINGTON — With the Iowa Legislature gaveling in last week and a new administration taking office in Washington D-C, advocates for food producers are watching for the effects of the “revolving door” – when people who used to make laws at the state and local level take positions that oversee food policy.

Former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack was the second longest serving Agriculture Secretary in US history. University of Iowa economist and sustainability expert Silvia Secchi says as he leaves office, Vilsack now stands to benefit from the very polices he helped create.  “He was secretary of agriculture under Obama. He went into lobbying. Now, he is secretary of agriculture under Biden and it’s possible he could go back into lobbying.”

Secchi says while the revolving door is not illegal, the practice gives “insiders” an outsize role in shaping laws and regulations in the industry they oversee. Some people who have gone into the private sector from government jobs contend having a thorough understanding of the regulatory process makes them a good resource for creating policy. 

Secchi says Vilsack’s choice could have a direct effect on the nation’s food producers, and especially on Iowa’s small poultry and pork farmers who are facing financial pressure from ag industry consolidation that is due in large part to policies that Vilsack created. “Secretary Vilsack has always been incredibly friendly to big ag. He gave money to the national pork board. He gave money to Land O’Lakes. So, if you look at the beneficiaries of that money, they are largely conventional, large scale entities.”

Vilsack’s salary as US ag secretary is just over $220,000 a year. During his time as vice president of Dairy Management, Incorporated and CEO of one of its subsidiaries, his salary was $1 million a year.