President Donald Trump has nominated former Nebraska agriculture director Greg Ibach as USDA Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, formally sending the nomination to the Senate on September 30.

USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins welcomed the pick. Ibach would succeed Luke Lindberg, who has been appointed Executive Director of the United Nations World Food Program.

Who is Greg Ibach?

Ibach is no stranger to USDA. During the first Trump administration, he served as Undersecretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs.

Before that, he ran the Nebraska Department of Agriculture as its director, giving him executive experience in one of the country's largest beef, corn and soybean producing states.

Rollins called Ibach "a lifelong producer and proven leader who understands American agriculture from the farm gate to the global marketplace."

What does the vacancy cover?

The Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs oversees USDA's international market development and export promotion machinery — a portfolio that matters directly to farm-gate prices and export basis for row crops, meat and processed products.

The outgoing officeholder, Lindberg, presided over what Rollins described as an aggressive market expansion agenda during his tenure.

Rollins credited Lindberg with helping the administration achieve the following results, according to USDA's accounting:

• Cut the U.S. agricultural trade deficit by 51 percent
• Delivered $177 billion in U.S. agricultural exports
• Established 20 new trade agreements and frameworks
• Secured new agricultural purchase commitments from foreign buyers

Those are administration figures, and the trade deficit and export totals in particular reflect broader market forces — commodity prices, exchange rates and global demand — beyond any single office's influence. Still, they frame the record Ibach would inherit.

What happens next?

The Senate will consider Ibach's nomination to lead USDA's international trade efforts. Confirmation would place a former state agriculture director and previous USDA undersecretary at the helm of the department's export agenda at a time when the agricultural trade balance remains a central policy concern.

With the nomination now before the Senate, the timeline for a confirmation vote and Ibach's formal installation will depend on the chamber's schedule.