President Donald Trump intends nominate Indiana Agriculture Director Ted McKinney to be USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs and former Iowa economics professor Dr. Sam Clovis for Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics.

McKinney grew up on a family farm in Tipton, Indiana. He began his career at Elanco Products Company in 1981, and in 1990 joined Dow AgroSciences where he spent nearly 20 years in a variety of Corporate Affairs responsibilities. In 2009, he returned to Elanco in Global Corporate Affairs and in 2014 became director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

Clovis has been the White House representative at USDA since President Trump was elected. He was born in Kansas and spent 25 years in the Air Force where he attained the rank of Colonel. Clovis holds Ph.D. in public administration from the University of Alabama and was formerly a professor of economics at Morningside College in Iowa.

Several sources reported the likely nominations of McKinney and Clovis in May, as well as Steve Censky to be Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, whose nomination was officially sent to the Senate yesterday. Bill Northey was also reported at the time to be undersecretary for farm and conservation programs, but that announcement has yet to be made.