John Block Reports from Washington

In the last week, we lost a great Secretary of Agriculture -- Earl Butz died at age 98.And a new Secretary was sworn in. Ed Schafer, former Governor of North Dakota, became the 29th Secretary of Agriculture. Governor Schafer was confirmed by the Senate with unanimous consent.

Ed Schafer was a popular Republican North Dakota governor. Earl Butz, throughout his time as Secretary, was always somewhat controversial. In serving two Presidents, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, Earl Butz was pushed out in his last year because of a racial joke.

Secretary Schafer doesn't have much time to get his feet on the ground with only about a year to make his mark -- even less than that when you consider the election coming up next fall. He is blessed with a strong Deputy in Chuck Conner, who has taken the lead in trying to negotiate a new farm bill with the Congress. The fact that Secretary Schafer is a friend of President Bush dating back to their years as state governors -- that personal relationship should help in the final negotiations of the farm bill. We' ll see.

A little more about Earl Butz -- the name Earl Butz commands great respect in farm country. He sold grain to the Soviet Union and the markets shot up. I was on the farm in Illinois then. The corn price almost doubled. Hogs that were selling for 16 cents per pound jumped up over 20 cents.Farmland prices exploded. Sound familiar? That's what we are experiencing now. That rising tide lifted all boats. We experienced a severe correction in the 80' s but prices never went back down where we were.

I want to close with a little story about Secretary Earl Butz. It was 8 years ago here in Washington, D.C. at the Ag Journalists Conference. There must have been 500 in attendance. In the morning, Earl Butz and I both spoke at the Conference. At age 91 , Earl Butz was as effective as he had been as Secretary. At lunchtime, Secretary Dan Glickman, who was President Bill Clinton' s Secretary, spoke. As Secretary Glickman finished his remarks, he turned to Earl and said, "I just marvel how you can be in such good shape and do such a great job at your age. What do Ihave to do to be like you?" Never missing a beat, Secretary Butz, a strong Republican, rose to his feet with one hand in the airand shouted, "change parties." It brought the house down.Earl Butz -a great Secretary of Agriculture.

Until next week, I am John Block from Washington.