14 Facts About Bill Northey

William Howard Northey was an American politician who served as the Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation in the United States Department of Agriculture from 2018 to 2021.

Bill Northey graduated from Iowa State University with an undergraduate degree in agricultural business in 1981 and was a member of the FarmHouse fraternity, serving as its president during his senior year.

Bill Northey received a Master in Business Administration degree from Southwest Minnesota State University in 2004.

Bill Northey died in February 2024 at the age of 64 in West Des Moines.

Bill Northey was active in agriculture groups at the county, state, and national levels.

From 1995 to 1996, Bill Northey served as president of the National Corn Growers Association and was chairman of the group in 1996 and 1997.

Bill Northey led a number of committees for the Corn Growers.

Bill Northey was named a "Friend of Agriculture" by the Iowa Farm Bureau Political Action Committee in 2006 and served in a number of Farm Bureau offices at the county and state level, including serving as president, vice president, and committee chairman of the Dickinson County Farm Bureau.

Bill Northey served on the Iowa USDA Farm Service Agency State Committee, was a Dickinson County Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioner, and was a board member of Ag Ventures Alliance.

Bill Northey was co-founder and president of Innovative Growers, LLC, which is an organization hatched from ISU Extension Leadership.

On his farm, Bill Northey employed the farming practices of reduced tillage, GPS, grid soil sampling and identity preserved production.

Bill Northey ran for Secretary of Agriculture on a platform of expanding opportunities in renewable energy, promoting conservation and stewardship, and telling the story of Iowa agriculture.

In September 2017, Bill Northey was nominated to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm Production and Conservation by President Donald Trump.

The creation of the new mission area prompted the realignment of several agencies under a newly named Under Secretary for Farm Production and Conservation, the position which Bill Northey held until 2021.