Michener Brings Experience to FAS
Agency will continue to expand foreign ag opportunities.
Compiled by staff
Published: Mar 24, 2009
Another hole in the organizational list at USDA has been filled. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack has named Michael Michener as Administrator of USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. Vilsack said he is extremely pleased to have someone with Mike's vast foreign affairs experience on his team.
Michener has served in three U.S. foreign affairs agencies in the past 10 years. Most recently he served as the Senior Democracy and Governance Advisor and Lead Planning Officer for the U.S. State Department's Office of the Coordinator for Reconstruction and Stabilization. Previously, from 2005 to 2007, he served as the lead Iraq policy officer for the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
FAS has primary responsibility for USDA's international activities, including market development, international trade agreements and negotiations and the collection and analysis of market information. FAS also administers USDA's export credit guarantee and international food aid programs, and helps expand income and food availability in developing nations.
"Agriculture is facing many challenges," says Ken Hobbie, U.S.Grains Council President and CEO. "But, we believe by working together with Michener and all of FAS to expand opportunities for U.S. agriculture in the international marketplace, we will overcome these difficulties."
According to Hobbie, Michener certainly has the necessary experience in foreign affairs to understand the importance of a liberalized trade environment. Senate Agriculture Committee Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, agreed with Hobbie, saying that Michener's knowledge will serve him well at FAS.
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