A fourth-generation farmer from Spirit Lake, Iowa, Bill Northey currently serves as CEO of Agribusiness Association of Iowa, a position he has held since May 2022.

Northey served as Iowa’s Secretary of Agriculture 2007-2018. In this role, he travelled to each of Iowa’s 99 counties each year to talk to farmers and local residents about their challenges and concerns.

He resigned from the position in March of 2018, when he was named Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation for the USDA under the Trump Administration. While in this position, Northey oversaw the division’s 21,000 employees and traveled throughout the U.S., as well as Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. He also worked on the department’s draft of rules for the 2018 Farm Bill implementation and set up payments for farmers impacted by the pandemic and trade disputes.

Other leadership roles he has held include president of the Iowa and National Corn Growers Association and president of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.