Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services
Darci Vetter was named as USDA's Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services on May 6, 2013. Prior to this appointment, Darci served as Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services since 2010. Darci brings a strong agricultural and trade background to her post.
In her role as Deputy Under Secretary, Darci oversaw the department's international activities. She had key responsibilities in international trade negotiations and export assistance programs, and coordinated USDA's role in international food aid. She also played a leadership role in several international economic development and trade capacity building programs.
Before joining USDA, she served as an International Trade Advisor on the Democratic Staff of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, where she advised Chairman Max Baucus and other Committee members on trade issues relating to agriculture, the environment and labor, including the 2008 Farm Bill and pending legislation on climate change.
Prior to her work on the Finance Committee, Darci spent six years at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), most recently as Director for Agricultural Affairs. At USTR, Darci was responsible for facilitating NAFTA implementation and resolving agricultural trade issues with Canada and Mexico, as well as participating in the WTO Doha Round negotiations.
Darci also served as the Director for Sustainable Development in USTR's environment office, where she negotiated the environmental provisions of the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement and negotiated trade provisions in U.N. environmental treaties, including the World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Darci received her Master of Public Affairs degree and a Certificate in Science, Technology and Environmental Policy from the Woodrow Wilson School at Princeton, and her undergraduate degree from Drake University in Des Moines. She grew up in Nebraska on a family farm.
