Just a few hours after Barack Obama took the oath of President of the United States, the U.S. Senate confirmed seven of his cabinet appointees, including Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture.

But, don’t look for an update on the USDA website just yet. Unlike the new whitehouse.gov website, which went live at 12:01 eastern yesterday, the USDA website has yet to be updated with the new secretary’s info. As of this morning, the Secretary pages on usda.gov are just blank. Could be because USDA offices were closed yesterday for the inauguration. First time I can recall there being four days in a row without an updated USDA newsline.

Everybody in agriculture seems happy about Secretary Vilsack – with the exception of mainly activists who are opposed to biotechnology. In case you don’t know his background, Vilsack was governor of Iowa from 1999-2007, during which time he chaired the Governors Ethanol Coalition, Governors Biotechnology Partnership, and the National Governors Association’s Natural Resources Committee, which handles agriculture and energy policies. He also owns a 600 acre farm in Iowa.

Now we will await the secretary’s new appointments for deputy and the various agencies within USDA.