Washington, D.C. - Iowa has long been the giant of U.S. agriculture, not just in producing grain and livestock but also in collecting federal crop subsides.

Now with Tom Vilsack as agriculture secretary, the state will have one of its own at the helm of the department that dispenses those subsidies, controls nearly 2 million acres of Iowa land through a single conservation program and regulates the state's many meatpackers.

The Obama administration, meanwhile, will get an agriculture secretary who is sympathetic to big agribusiness that dominates Iowa and a believer in biofuels and agricultural biotechnology.

In short, Vilsack is not likely to shift the U.S. Department of Agriculture in a radical new direction as many of Obama's liberal supporters had hoped.

A New York Times columnist called for renaming USDA the Department of Food. One online petition drive, called fooddemocracynow.org, pushed reform candidates like Neil Hamilton, an agricultural law expert at Drake University. Vilsack was not on the list.

"He is not a foodie but represents mainstream production ag," said Bruce Babcock, director of Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.

Because Iowa farmers are heavily dependent on exports, Vilsack also will be a supporter of trade, Babcock said.

Ron Litterer, a Greene, Ia., farmer who is chairman of the National Corn Growers Association, sees Vilsack as secretary who could be a "very articulate spokesperson" for agricultural interests.

"He can lay out the issues and define them well and help make the case, if he believes in it. That's his strong suit."

Vilsack's views are closely aligned with President-elect Barack Obama's, said Mary Kay Thatcher, a lobbyist for the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Obama supported the 2008 farm bill, but like Iowa's farmers, he favors tightening subsidy limits for large farms, a move that would hurt larger operations in the South.

USDA is a sprawling agency with 100,000 employees, county offices spread across the country and an annual budget of more than $90 billion.

While the department is probably best known to the public for the subsidies it gives to farmers - Iowa's share has topped $2 billion in some years - the biggest share of its budget goes to nutrition, through food stamps, school lunches and other programs. The department also regulates meat safety.

Vilsack's biggest challenges early on are likely to come on issues key to his home state: Managing the growth of the biofuels industry while ensuring sufficient grain for food and livestock feed and also dealing with the environmental impact of increased crop production.

Craig Cox, who runs the Midwest office of the Environmental Working Group in Ames, Ia., thinks Vilsack appreciates the need for land conservation and the environmental problems posed by increased grain production for biofuels.

"He has made statements in the last few months that at least suggest he understands the limitations of corn ethanol and conventional biofuels," Cox said.

Iowa: No. 1 in corn, hogs and ethanol. Soon to be No. 1 at USDA.