Secretary Perdue Announces New Budget Director at USDA

Jun 21, 2018

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue today announced the selection of Erica Navarro to serve as Director of the Office of Budget and Program Analysis (OBPA) for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). OBPA administers the Department's budgetary functions and also develops and presents budget-related matters. The Director is responsible for providing leadership in carrying out Department-wide responsibilities in policy analysis, program review, budget, legislative, and regulatory functions.

Secretary Perdue issued the following statement:

“A top priority at USDA is to be the most effective, most efficient, and best-managed department in the entire federal government, and highly qualified officials like Erica will help us achieve that goal. Erica has a sterling track record and excellent credentials, and I am confident she will focus that talent serving America’s farmers, ranchers, foresters, and agricultural producers.”

Background

Erica Navarro previously served as the Budget Director for the U.S. Department of Education. Before that, she served as Budget Director for the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and Acting Deputy Assistant Administrator and Senior Advisor for the Africa Bureau at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). She began her career serving in the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from Tulane University before earning her Master of Business Administration (MBA) with a concentration in finance from the Yale School of Management.

Source: USDA

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.