# United States Secretary of Agriculture

The United States secretary of agriculture is the head of the United States Department of Agriculture. The position carries similar responsibilities to those of agriculture ministers in other governments
The department includes several organizations. The 297,000 mi$^2$ (770,000 km$^2$) of national forests and grasslands are managed by the United States Forest Service. The safety of food produced and sold in the United States is ensured by the United States Food Safety and Inspection Service. The Food Stamp Program works with the states to provide food to low-income people.
Secretary of Agriculture is a Level I position in the Executive Schedule, thus earning a salary of US$221,400, as of January 2021.
Since February 13, 2025, the current secretary is Brooke Rollins.

## List of secretaries of agriculture

When the Department of Agriculture was established in 1862, its executive was a non-Cabinet position called the commissioner of agriculture. The commissioners of agriculture were:
United States commissioners of agriculture :
| No. | Name | State of residence | Took office | Left office | President(s) |
| 1 | Isaac Newton | Pennsylvania | July 1, 1862 | June 19, 1867 | Abraham Lincoln (1861–1865) |
| 1 | Isaac Newton | Pennsylvania | July 1, 1862 | June 19, 1867 | Andrew Johnson (1865–1869) |
| 2 | Horace Capron | | December 4, 1867 | July 31, 1871 | Andrew Johnson (1865–1869) |
| 2 | Horace Capron | | December 4, 1867 | July 31, 1871 | Ulysses S. Grant (1969–1877) |
| 3 | Frederick Watts | Pennsylvania | August 1, 1871 | 1877 | Ulysses S. Grant (1969–1877) |
| 4 | William Gates LeDuc | Minnesota | July 1, 1877 | 1881 | Rutherford B. Hayes (1877–1881) |
| 5 | George B. Loring | Massachusetts | July 1, 1881 | 1885 | James A. Garfield (1881) |
| 5 | George B. Loring | Massachusetts | July 1, 1881 | 1885 | Chester A. Arthur (1881–1885) |
| 6 | Norman Jay Coleman | Missouri | April 3, 1885 | February 14, 1889 | Grover Cleveland (1885–1889) |
The position of secretary of agriculture was created when the department was elevated to Cabinet status in 1889. The following is a list of secretaries of agriculture, since the creation of the office in 1889.

### Parties

Democratic (14)  Republican (19)

### Status

Acting Secretary of Agriculture
| No. | Portrait | Name | State of residence | Took office | Left office | President(s) |
| 1 | | Norman Jay Coleman | Missouri | February 15, 1889 | March 6, 1889 | Grover Cleveland (1885–1889) |
| 2 | | Jeremiah McLain Rusk | Wisconsin | March 6, 1889 | March 6, 1893 | Benjamin Harrison (1889–1893) |
| 3 | | Julius Sterling Morton | Nebraska | March 7, 1893 | March 5, 1897 | Grover Cleveland (1893–1897) |
| 4 | | James Wilson | Iowa | March 5, 1897 | March 3, 1913 | William McKinley (1897–1901) |
| 4 | | James Wilson | Iowa | March 5, 1897 | March 3, 1913 | Theodore Roosevelt (1901–1909) |
| 4 | | James Wilson | Iowa | March 5, 1897 | March 3, 1913 | William Howard Taft (1909–1913) |
| 5 | | David F. Houston | Missouri | March 6, 1913 | February 2, 1920 | Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) |
| 6 | | Edwin T. Meredith | Iowa | February 2, 1920 | March 4, 1921 | Woodrow Wilson (1913–1921) |
| 7 | | Henry Cantwell Wallace | Iowa | March 5, 1921 | October 25, 1924 | Warren G. Harding (1921–1923) |
| 7 | | Henry Cantwell Wallace | Iowa | March 5, 1921 | October 25, 1924 | Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929) |
| 8 | | Howard Mason Gore | West Virginia | November 22, 1924 | March 4, 1925 | Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929) |
| 9 | | William Marion Jardine | Kansas | March 5, 1925 | March 4, 1929 | Calvin Coolidge (1923–1929) |
| 10 | | Arthur M. Hyde | Missouri | March 6, 1929 | March 4, 1933 | Herbert Hoover (1929–1933) |
| 11 | | Henry A. Wallace | Iowa | March 4, 1933 | September 4, 1940 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) |
| 12 | | Claude R. Wickard | Indiana | September 5, 1940 | June 29, 1945 | Franklin D. Roosevelt (1933–1945) |
| 12 | | Claude R. Wickard | Indiana | September 5, 1940 | June 29, 1945 | Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) |
| 13 | | Clinton Anderson | New Mexico | June 30, 1945 | May 10, 1948 | Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) |
| 14 | | Charles F. Brannan | Colorado | June 2, 1948 | January 20, 1953 | Harry S. Truman (1945–1953) |
| 15 | | Ezra Taft Benson | Utah | January 21, 1953 | January 20, 1961 | Dwight D. Eisenhower (1953–1961) |
| 16 | | Orville Freeman | Minnesota | January 21, 1961 | January 20, 1969 | John F. Kennedy (1961–1963) |
| 16 | | Orville Freeman | Minnesota | January 21, 1961 | January 20, 1969 | Lyndon B. Johnson (1963–1969) |
| 17 | | Clifford M. Hardin | Nebraska | January 21, 1969 | November 17, 1971 | Richard Nixon (1969–1974) |
| 18 | | Earl Butz | Indiana | December 2, 1971 | October 4, 1976 | Richard Nixon (1969–1974) |
| 18 | | Earl Butz | Indiana | December 2, 1971 | October 4, 1976 | Gerald Ford (1974–1977) |
| 19 | | John A. Knebel | Oklahoma | November 4, 1976 | January 20, 1977 | Gerald Ford (1974–1977) |
| 20 | | Robert Bergland | Minnesota | January 23, 1977 | January 20, 1981 | Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) |
| 21 | | John R. Block | Illinois | January 23, 1981 | February 14, 1986 | Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) |
| 22 | | Richard Lyng | California | March 7, 1986 | January 21, 1989 | Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) |
| 23 | | Clayton Yeutter | Nebraska | February 16, 1989 | March 1, 1991 | George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) |
| 24 | | Ed Madigan | Illinois | March 8, 1991 | January 20, 1993 | George H. W. Bush (1989–1993) |
| 25 | | Mike Espy | Mississippi | January 22, 1993 | December 31, 1994 | Bill Clinton (1993–2001) |
| – | | Richard Rominger Acting | California | December 31, 1994 | March 30, 1995 | Bill Clinton (1993–2001) |
| 26 | | Dan Glickman | Kansas | March 30, 1995 | January 20, 2001 | Bill Clinton (1993–2001) |
| 27 | | Ann Veneman | California | January 20, 2001 | January 20, 2005 | George W. Bush (2001–2009) |
| 28 | | Mike Johanns | Nebraska | January 21, 2005 | September 20, 2007 | George W. Bush (2001–2009) |
| – | | Charles Conner Acting | Indiana | September 20, 2007 | January 28, 2008 | George W. Bush (2001–2009) |
| 29 | | Ed Schafer | North Dakota | January 28, 2008 | January 20, 2009 | George W. Bush (2001–2009) |
| 30 | | Tom Vilsack | Iowa | January 20, 2009 | January 13, 2017 | Barack Obama (2009–2017) |
| – | | Michael Scuse Acting | Delaware | January 13, 2017 | January 20, 2017 | Barack Obama (2009–2017) |
| – | | Mike Young Acting | Washington D.C. | January 20, 2017 | April 25, 2017 | Donald Trump (2017–2021) |
| 31 | | Sonny Perdue | Georgia | April 25, 2017 | January 20, 2021 | Donald Trump (2017–2021) |
| – | | Kevin Shea Acting | | January 20, 2021 | February 24, 2021 | Joe Biden (2021–2025) |
| 32 | | Tom Vilsack | Iowa | February 24, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | Joe Biden (2021–2025) |
| – | | Gary Washington Acting | | January 20, 2025 | February 13, 2025 | Donald Trump (2025–present) |
| 33 | Brooke Rollins | Brooke Rollins | Texas | February 13, 2025 | present | Donald Trump (2025–present) |

## Line of succession

The line of succession for the secretary of agriculture is as follows:
* Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
* Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services (this position no longer exists)
* Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Administration
* Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services
* Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics
* Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety
* Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment
* Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development
* Under Secretary of Agriculture for Marketing and Regulatory Programs
* General Counsel of the Department of Agriculture
* Chief of Staff, Office of the Secretary
* State Executive Directors of the Farm Service Agency (in order of seniority by length of unbroken tenure) for the States of:
** California
** Iowa
** Kansas
* Regional Administrators of the Food and Nutrition Service (in order of seniority by length of unbroken tenure) for the:
** Mountain Plains Regional Office (Denver, Colorado)
** Midwest Regional Office (Chicago, Illinois)
** Western Regional Office (San Francisco, California)
* Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Agriculture
* Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Civil Rights
* Assistant Secretary of Agriculture for Congressional Relations