Vilsack is on the job, but who will be his deputy?

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack officially became secretary of agriculture Wednedday and, taking a cue from President Obama, went to work stopping late regulations from the Bush administration. "Vilsack, who late in the day met briefly with reporters in a conference room off his office, said he would heed a White House directive and put a hold on all regulations that the USDA issued in the Bush administration's final days," reports Philip Brasher of The Des Moines Register.

Another task deemed important enough for the first day on the job was attending a meeting on civil rights. "The Department of Agriculture has been embroiled in a long-running dispute over its handling of complaints by black farmers," Brasher notes. (Read more) All in a day's work. Now folks are wondering what sort of deputy secretary Vilsack will choose -- a reformer who might have trouble getting confirmed, or a safer pick?

UPDATE, Jan. 25: In the Daily Yonder, northwest Missouri farmer Richard Oswald endorses Chuck Hassebrook, left, director of the Center For Rural Affairs in Lyons, Neb., population 963. He also speaks highly of Jim Miller of the National Farmers Union and Karen Ross, president of the California Winegrape Growers Association. The Yonder says in its subhead, "The team that takes over the Department of Agriculture needs a working knowledge of small towns and a realization that power is too concentrated." (Read more)