For the last month since Greg Ibach was confirmed as USDA undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs, Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and his administration have been searching for someone to fill the role of director of agriculture for the state.

Yesterday, Ricketts announced Syracuse farmer Steve Wellman will be the 27th director of agriculture for the state.

Wellman, 56, raises corn, soybeans, wheat, alfalfa and cattle near Syracuse. His wife, Susan, works as a public school teacher. They have two children, Sarah and Tyler.

Wellman graduated from the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis in 1981, and has been farming ever since. He has also served on Ricketts’ Ag Advisory Team, as well as President Donald Trump's Ag Advisory Team. He is a member of Nebraska Cattlemen and Nebraska Farm Bureau, and Nebraska Soybean Association, Nebraska Corn Growers Association, Ag Builders of Nebraska and Outstanding Farmers of America. He's also served as president and chairman of the American Soybean Association.

NEW FACE IN TOWN: "I look forward to working with the governor and his team on priorities to grow Nebraska agriculture. We want to bring additional value to our products we grow here. We want to grow our markets, and we're also going to continue to advocate for reducing property taxes,” Steve Wellman says.

Wellman has led and participated in several international trade missions as a member of these groups, including working on behalf of ASA and other organizations to alleviate non-tariff trade barriers on U.S. ag products. In 2015, Wellman joined Ricketts on a trade mission to the European Union, which included a visit to the headquarters for the EU's governmental offices in Brussels.

"I know Steve is going to do a fantastic job representing Nebraska," Ricketts said. "I had a chance to see Steve in action on our European Union trade mission. We had a meeting with Phil Hogan, the commissioner of agriculture for the European Union, and I was very impressed with how Steve asked Phil questions with regard to non-tariff trade barriers. He did it in a way that was very Nebraskan; he was very much firm on the point that we want to get across with regard to these trade barriers."

Expansion of international markets
In his role, Wellman said he hopes to help expand international markets for Nebraska agricultural products, work to add value to those products domestically and internationally, and also advocate for property tax relief for Nebraska farmers and ranchers.

"Agriculture is the backbone of Nebraska, and the families that operate the 50,000 farms and ranches here in Nebraska grow feed, fuel and fiber that the world uses every day," Wellman said. "I look forward to working with the governor and his team on priorities to grow Nebraska agriculture. We want to bring additional value to our products we grow here. We want to grow our markets, and we're also going to continue to advocate for reducing property taxes."

"We're going to continue to do everything we can to grow Nebraska and grow Nebraska agriculture. I'm going to use my background as a family farmer along with my experiences at the national level to advocate for Nebraska's No. 1 industry," Wellman added. "My work over the past three-and-a-half decades helps me understand the economic and regulatory conditions that farmers and ranchers face every day. The governor and I will advocate for, and we're going to work for and work with, ranchers and farmers and their organizations and many other stakeholders in the state of Nebraska that want to help move agriculture forward and grow the state."

Wellman officially begins his role as director Dec. 5, with a salary of $115,000.