Now President-elect Obama must appoint a Secretary of Agriculture who embraces that change or it will fall victim to the politics of Washington.

Nothing better illustrates the broken politics of Washington than farm and rural policy. The federal government spends billions subsidizing mega farms to drive smaller farms off the land and often penalizes the best environmental stewards with lower payments. It largely fails to invest in the future of America’s rural communities.

For example, in 2005 the Department of Agriculture spent nearly twice as much to subsidize the 260 biggest farms across 13 leading farm states than on rural development initiatives to create economic opportunity for the 3 million people living in those states’ 260 most struggling rural counties. That does not help family farms or small town Americans. It does not serve the common good.

The platform released by Barack Obama 13 months ago in Linn County went right to the heart of the problem. He proposed refocusing federal policy on creating opportunity for family farms by capping payments to mega farms and enforcing rules against unfair pricing practices by meat packers. To revitalize rural communities, he proposed investing in small business, microenterprise development and value added agriculture, including local foods and sustainable agriculture.

He proposed increased production of biofuels and wind energy. And he pledged unprecedented support for protecting our land and water through the Conservation Stewardship Program, which rewards farmers for good practices.

These are not easy reforms. Investments in rural development and environmental stewardship run head-on into demands for new spending by big farm and commodity interests.

The last farm bill is a case in point. Efforts by Iowa Senators Tom Harkin and Chuck Grassley to cap payments to mega farms and invest in conservation and rural development were overwhelmed by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans, from the Midwest as well as the South. And in spite of support for such measures by an overwhelming majority of farmers, they were undermined by a combination of Democratic and Republican leaning farm organizations as well as every affected commodity organization.

Barack Obama’s Administration must be determined and unified to overcome the inertia and cynicism of farm and rural politics. The commitment of the President is the most critical element, but the commitment of his Secretary of Agriculture is almost as important.

Secretaries define the agenda and shape how the President uses his influence. They make important but less visible day to day decisions on rules and regulations that determine who benefits from USDA programs and the behavior they support. Barack Obama cannot achieve the change to which he committed with a Secretary of Agriculture committed to the status quo.

Nevertheless, many of the engineers of Washington’s failed rural policies are near the front of the line of job seekers for the highest positions in the Department of Agriculture. Our President’s first challenge in farm and rural policy is separating the wheat from the chaff.

He should start with one simple test for those who want to be Secretary of Agriculture. Have they worked for the rural agenda on which he campaigned and are they committed to advancing it when he takes office in January?