(Washington, D.C.) Republican Senator Chuck Grassley, a lifelong family farmer and a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, questioned Glen Smith of Atlantic, Iowa, about the need to support ethanol and biofuels, as well as to improve loan functions at the Department of Agriculture (USDA) to support family farmers.
Senator Grassley asked the question at Glen Smith’s confirmation hearing on Wednesday, as President Trump’s nominee to be the next Under Secretary of Rural Development at USDA.
Grassley asked Smith about the Ethanol demand that increases corn demand, supporting farmers. The Senator asked Smith if he was an advocate.
Grassley also discussed the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program, which drives economic growth in rural communities where access to financing for improvements and new projects is difficult.
The Under Secretary for Rural Development is a high-ranking official in the United States Department of Agriculture, serving as the principal advisor to the Secretary of Agriculture and responsible for overseeing the department’s rural development programs and policies. The president of the United States appoints the undersecretary with the consent of the United States Senate.
Smith went through this same process eight years ago, before his service on the Board of Directors of the Farm Credit Administration in Washington, D.C., where he continues to serve.
