President Joe Biden appointed two longtime rural Wisconsin experts to positions within the state’s offices of the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Thursday. Advocates for rural parts of the state applauded the appointments as wins for small farmers across the state. 

Biden appointed Eugene Schriefer, a senior outreach specialist with UW-Madison Extension, as Wisconsin state executive director for the Farm Service Agency. Schriefer will oversee and implement USDA policy in Wisconsin. 

Biden also appointed former state legislator Julie Lassa as the rural development director for Wisconsin. Lassa, who served in the Legislature for 18 years as a member of the Assembly and Senate, also served on the board of directors of the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation and held positions in local government. Rural development state directors lead offices that give grants and loans to spur economic development in their state.