Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 1/29/18

 Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue has kept up a steady travel schedule, visiting more than 30 states in the nine months since being confirmed. Along the way, farmers and business leaders have consistently raised many of the same questions like: Where does President Donald Trump really stand on trade, particularly NAFTA?

Although trade is the most visible question that requires Perdue to walk a fine line, the former governor of Georgia also delicately addressed how farm and nutrition programs could change.

Trade talk: The inherent conflict in Perdue's job -- promoting the president's agenda while also trying to address the worries of farmers, ranchers and rural Americans -- was on display as the secretary persevered through an 11-hour tour through the heart of Pennsylvania last week, reported Pro Ag's Catherine Boudreau and Helena Bottemiller Evich. As they traveled with him on that long day, the two witnessed firsthand how disarming Perdue could be when asked about thorny issues.

"Twenty-five percent of all the beans go to China," a soybean farmer told Perdue, during a stop at a family-owned flour and feed mill in New Oxford, Penn. "I guess my only comment would be: Please be careful, OK?"

The secretary, with a down-to-earth Southern charm, assured his audiences that in the end, trade deals will be resolved in ways that work for farm country.

Fuzziness on farm bill issues: When it came to crop insurance and SNAP, Perdue delivered less-specific answers. He said, as he often does, that farmers prefer to plant for the market rather than for a government program. He also argued crop insurance can't be so "rich" that it becomes a lifestyle. 

The secretary supported stricter work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents who receive food stamps, but declined to endorse cuts to SNAP.