President Elect Donald Trump has wasted little time in assembling his team at the Cabinet level when he takes the oath of office on January 20, 2024. And- apparently- things have heated up in his choice for Secretary of Agriculture. That has led to a dark horse candidate gaining traction and has interviewed for the office- Jimmy Emmons of Leedey, Oklahoma.
Emmons tells Senior Farm and Ranch broadcaster with the Oklahoma Farm Report, Ron Hays, that he had been in discussions with the Trump Transition team and the Kennedy Transition Team about an under secretary USDA position in recent days-but late this week- he tells Hays he was asked to consider upping the game and submit his name for Secretary- and has been working in that direction since Thursday afternoon.
Emmons tells Hays “the (incoming) administration of Donald Trump and Robert Kennedy, Jr are trying to change the way we look at farming and practices to make the soil healthy and land healthy and to make the food healthy to make our bodies healthy- and what I have been working on these last several years have put me in that arena.” He adds that he has been in negotiations- has been interviewed and he says “things are moving along. We’re excited- nothing is done until it’s done and we don’t want to be over optimistic but things look well and we are waiting for the next step.”
Emmons does believe that we are close to hearing about who might be Donald Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture- and he says no matter who might be chosen- it has been an honor to have been in consideration.
Jimmy Emmons is the third generation on the family farm in Dewey County. He and his wife Ginger have been farming and ranching together since 1980. They have a diverse 2000 acre cropping operation growing wheat, soybeans, sesame, sunflowers, irrigated dairy alfalfa hay, canola, grain sorghum and several cover crops for seed.
Jimmy and Ginger also have a 250 cow/calf herd and take in yearling cattle for custom grazing on the nearly 6000 acres of native range. Ginger is the primary cattle manager in the operation. The Emmons’ utilize their range and forage resources grown on the crops ground to keep the native grasses and soils healthy to maximize biological diversity and animal health.
Currently, Emmons serves as the Senior Vice President, Climate Smart Programs for the Trust in Food Initiative of the Farm Journal Foundation. Before that- Emmons served as coordinator for mentoring for the Oklahoma Conservation Commission. Prior to that, in the first Trump Administration, he was regional coordinator for USDA’s Farm Production and Conservation, where he supported operational and business functions across the Farm Service Agency (FSA), Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and Risk Management Agency (RMA). He has also served as president of the Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts and led fundraising for the National Young Farmers Education Association.
He also currently serves as the Vice President for No Till on the Plains.
