Nov. 5, 2008, the next day: Election 2008 is behind us. America voted its choice for national, state and local leaders whom they expect to take the nation in a new direction. The call has been issued. The mission is clear: it is time to rescue and rebuild.

Weeks before yesterday’s historic moment in American history, Tom Vilsack, former governor of Iowa and presidential candidate, noted that “rescue begins with American agriculture and energy.”

That a new administration brings change is not news. Although change is unlikely as it relates to the core function of the USDA in its representation of the agriculture sector, a new chief administrator is a certainty.

In addition to Vilsack, names on president-elect Obama’s short list of candidates for secretary of agriculture reportedly include Tom Buis, president of the National Farmer’s Union, and Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, South Dakota’s sole representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Vilsack ran for president in February, 2007, dropped out, endorsed Hillary Clinton and later publicly endorsed Obama. Vilsack teaches at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and now serves as a 2008 resident fellow.

The following snapshot is among the views he detailed in a commentary published in the Argus Leader last month:

“Together, with the courage to create change, let us build a 21^st century rural economy of cutting-edge companies and technologies that lead us to energy and food security. Such an investment will revitalize rural America, re-establish our moral leadership on climate security and eliminate our addiction to foreign oil. And it could be obtained for a small fraction of the cost of the bailout plans now on the table.”

As president of the National Farmer’s Union (NFU), Buis provided leadership behind his organization’s push for a farm bill “that addresses many of the challenges American producers face every day, despite a reduced budget, numerous critics and competing interests.”

In his NFU viewpoint posted the day after the election, Buis said his members were first to call for a permanent disaster program; were in the forefront of the fight for mandatory country-of-origin labeling; was the first agriculture organization to push for a national Renewable Fuels Standard and a Renewable Portfolio Standard; and has steadfastly supported increasing the use of production of renewable fuels from the farm. NFU, he says, is leading the charge to ensure agriculture plays a role in addressing climate change.

Yesterday, South Dakota handily re-elected Herseth Sandlin to serve another term. Aside from her formal education and job credentials (Georgetown University Law Center graduate and South Dakota State University professor and executive director of the South Dakota Farmers Union Foundation), Herseth Sandlin understands rural agriculture having grown up on her family’s farm. Moreover, she comes from a long line of politicos – her father was a longtime state legislator, her grandfather once served as South Dakota’s governor, and her grandmother served as secretary of state. Herseth Sandlin’s campaign focused on her congressional work in renewing the farm bill; improving veteran’s benefits; fostering increased ethanol and biodiesel production and use; and providing adequate and affordable health care.

The Obama administration is under pressure to quickly fill key posts in the corporation known as the United States of America. To be sure, these are worthy candidates to serve USDA. Each would no doubt bring the necessary set of skills and know-how to provide the tools and resources to help the agricultural sector fight its way back to the light of day. The meat and poultry industry has been besieged by all manner of challenging market forces. A new national administration ushers in a fresh opportunity for the industry to find innovative ways to manage change for the better.

As Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. put it, a man’s mind, stretched by a new idea, can never go back to its original dimensions.