The Senate yesterday confirmed President Obama’s nominee for USDA’s deputy secretary of agriculture Krysta Harden. She will succeed Kathleen Merrigan in the second-highest post at USDA. Harden has served as Secretary Tom Vilsack’s chief of staff and assistant secretary for congressional relations. Robert Bonnie was also confirmed to be USDA’s under secretary for natural resources and the environment. Bonnie, who has been a senior advisor to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, succeeds Harris Sherman.
