Bush Nominates New Agriculture Secretary

President Bush nominated former North Dakota Gov. Edward T. Shafer to be his next Secretary of Agriculture, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Shafer would step in at a moment when both the House and Senate have passed farm bills and when Bush has threatened to veto any bill that includes farm subsidies he considers heavy handed.

The farm bill is one of those bureaucratic expeditions that tends to make few inroads into the American consciousness, but it's immensely important. Many have backed Bush's drive to curtail excessive farm subsidies, which tend to favor large -- and already rich -- industrial-scale farms, rather than family farms. There's a provision being kicked around Congress that would share the wealth with specialty crop growers -- like orchards and organic vegetable farms -- which is seen by many as a welcome sign the nation's bloated farm subsidies will at least do more to encourage neighborhood farms and neighborhood nutrition.

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