Photo by Tom Campbell |
Whether it's on the farm in Clarks Hill, Ind.,
or meeting with his staff in his Washington, D.C., office, U.S.
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jim Moseley (top left) prides
himself on being a good listener.
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'I think of myself as a farmer'
Before taking office, Moseley had to divest himself of
his farm holdings in Clinton and Tippecanoe counties, about 20 miles
southeast of the Purdue campus. But no matter how long Moseley remains
in Washington "I serve at the discretion of the President,"
he says he will always be a farmer.
"I don't think of myself as being a policy person
that owns a farm," Moseley says. "I think of myself as being
a farmer that works in a policy position for an appropriate time."
It's hard for Moseley to be away from the farm. Autumn
was especially tough, during harvest.
"There's nothing, in my mind, that can compete with
watching a crop come out, actually being in the field and watching the
combine running I do miss that," he says.
He finally got a chance to return to Indiana, for an
appearance at the Farm Progress Show, just as harvest was gearing up
last September.
With all that had happened in Washington and New York
the Pentagon and World Trade Centers still smoldered the emotions long
held in check by the job he had to do finally percolated to the surface
as he stood at another podium and looked out at another crowd.
Words escaped him and tears filled his eyes as he remembered
Sept. 11. Later, Moseley said he was embarrassed by his show of emotions.
Shoot, people understood. They were farmers, after all,
feeling the same things Moseley felt. And, even at harvest, we could
always use the moisture.
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