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ASA backs Torres Small confirmation

Stock photo: Steve Censky, CEO of the American Soybean Association

The CEO of the American Soybean Association says the new deputy ag secretary at USDA could be helpful for trade relations.

Xochitl Torres Small was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on Tuesday and ASA’s Steve Censky tells Brownfield, “Xochitl knows the importance of trade to American agriculture,” he said. “She knows how important it is to have expanded markets and addressing the sanitary and phytosanitary barriers.”

Censky served as USDA’s deputy ag secretary from 2017-2020.

He says Torres Small’s current work as Under Secretary for Rural Development is also a positive.

“She understands how important the rural development issues and the investments in rural America are for making rural America and rural towns and communities good places to live.”

Torres Small succeeds Jewell Bronaugh who stepped down from the position earlier this year.

She’s expected to be sworn into office next week.