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HARRISBURG — Pennsylvania’s agriculture secretary said Friday that he is talking with President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team about the possibility of joining the administration.
Dennis Wolff said the talks have covered him perhaps heading the U.S. Department of Agriculture or serving as an undersecretary.
“For me, it’s just a great honor to even be on the list of people being considered, so I’m thrilled to be on the list,” Wolff said. “I don’t think anyone knows how this will unfold or how the process works, but it will be an interesting month or two.”
Wolff, 57, has been Gov. Ed Rendell’s agriculture secretary since the beginning of the Democrat’s first term in 2003. Wolff, also a Democrat, is a sixth-generation dairy farmer and owns Pen-Col Farms in Millville in northcentral Pennsylvania.
He noted that agriculture secretaries in recent years have largely been former governors from heartland states. But he said Pennsylvania is a microcosm of the nation’s agriculture industry, ranking in the top five in production of 20 different commodities, including eggs, mushrooms and dairy.
Agriculture is Pennsylvania’s biggest industry, while the state is ninth in terms of total agricultural production, Wolff said.
Wolff said the discussion began about a month ago when he discussed farm issues with members of Obama’s staff who were overseeing the candidate’s strategy in rural America. That led to the latest talk about a post in the agriculture department, he said.
Wolff has a booster in Carl T. Shaffer, president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau.