Pfaff to run farm programs at FSA in round of USDA personnel changes
August 24, 2015 |01:33 PM
Brad Pfaff, the Wisconsin state director for the Farm Service Agency, has been named acting deputy administrator for farm programs at the Agriculture Department’s Farm Service Agency, according to a memo on personnel changes issued by the USDA Office of the White House liaison.
The appointment means that Pfaff will be in charge of farm programs this fall as FSA faces the likelihood of payments to crop farmers under the 2014 farm bill.
Pfaff has served as Wisconsin FSA director since 2009 and is a former aide to Rep. Ron Kind, D-Wis., and Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis. He holds a bachelor of science from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a master of public administration from George Mason University.
In his acting position, Pfaff succeeds Mike Schmidt, who has been promoted to associate administrator for programs. Schmidt will oversee farm programs, farm loan programs and commodity operations, an FSA spokesman said.
Schmidt will have the same rank as Chris Beyerhelm, the associate administrator for operations and management, who oversees the budget, finance, administrative, management and internal control functions.
Schmidt and Beyerhelm both report to FSA Administrator Val Dolcini, the spokesman said.
The Office of the White House Liaison also announced two other acting appointments.
Sam Rikkers, the deputy administrator of the Rural Business-Cooperative Service, has been promoted to acting administrator, succeeding Lillian Salerno, who has been promoted to deputy undersecretary for policy in the Rural Development division of USDA.Rikkers was appointed as RBS deputy administrator in December after serving as director of the energy and environment team with the White House’s Presidential Personnel Office, a position he has held since 2013.
Before this position, he served as regional field director in Wisconsin on President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign.
From 2007 to 2012, he was an attorney with Constantine Cannon, LLP, a litigation firm in New York City.
Rikkers earned a law degree from the University of Wisconsin, a master's degree in international affairs from Columbia University, and a bachelor of arts degree in political science and philosophy from Macalester College.
He also served as a volunteer with the U.S. Peace Corps in rural Zambia. He is from southern Wisconsin.
Trevor Reuschel, the legislative director in the Office of Congressional Relations, has been promoted to acting deputy assistant secretary for congressional relations, succeeding Melinda Cep, who has been named a senior adviser to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
Reuschel previously worked in the office of Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.
