Bill Northey

Bill Northey was elected Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in 2006 and was sworn in on January 2 2007.

Northey ran on a platform of expanding opportunities in renewable energy, promoting conservation and stewardship, and telling the story of Iowa agriculture.

As Secretary, Northey has committed to traveling to each of Iowa’s 99 counties to hear from farmers and rural residents with a stake in the future of agriculture. These meetings allow him to listen to their needs and better lead the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship as it seeks to serve the people of the state.

On his farm, Northey uses reduced tillage, GPS, grid soil sampling and identity preserved production. Besides raising corn and soybeans, the Northey farm has grown alfalfa and raised hogs and cattle throughout the years.

Throughout his career in agriculture, Northey has been a leader in a variety of farm groups. From 1995-96, he served as President of the National Corn Growers Association and was Chairman of the group in 1996-97. He has led a number of Committees for the Corn Growers, as well.

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather E. Howard Hill, who served as president from 1947 – 1963, Northey has also been active in Iowa Farm Bureau. He was named a “Friend of Agriculture” by the Iowa Farm Bureau Political Action Committee in 2006 and has served in a number of Farm Bureau offices at the county and state level, including serving as President, Vice President and committee chairman of the Dickinson County Farm Bureau.

Northey has also served on the Iowa USDA Farm Service Agency State Committee, was a Dickinson County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioner and was a board member of Ag Ventures Alliance.

As a result of his involvement in these organizations, Northey has traveled around the world to view agriculture. He has traveled to Taiwan, Japan (five times), Indonesia and Singapore (to the WTO Secretariat) representing Iowa farmers. He has also traveled to another 12 countries studying agriculture production and policy.

Northey was also Co-Founder and President of Innovative Growers, LLC, which is an organization hatched from ISU Extension Leadership. Innovative Growers is a farmer-owned and farmer-managed group designed to capitalize on demand for the production of specialty grain products.

He graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Business in 1981 and was a member of FarmHouse Fraternity, serving as its President his senior year. Northey received a Masters in Business Administration from Southwest Minnesota State University in 2004.

Bill and his wife Cindy have three daughters. Jessica graduated from Iowa State University in Accounting and Emily is currently an undergraduate in Hotel Management there. Katie is attending Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia. The family is active in Faith Evangelical Free Church in Spirit Lake. Bill has served as Deacon, Sunday school teacher and chairmen for various committees.

References

* [http://www.agriculture.state.ia.us/ Iowa Department of Agriculture bio]
* [http://www.votesmart.org/bio.php?can_id=72418 VoteSmart bio]