President-elect Donald Trump, who will be sworn in on Friday, has named former Georgia governor and vet Sonny Perdue as agriculture secretary.

Perdue is the last cabinet selection to be named by the incoming US President. He had been tipped as the favourite for the Agriculture Secretary position ahead of the announcement and had advised Trump during his presidential campaign, though he initially supported Mike Huckabee in the campaign.  

A former democrat who switched parties in 1998, Perdue was elected governor of Georgia for two terms, from 2003 to 2011, and presided over a severe drought in 2007, when he infamously led a service to pray for rain on the steps of the state Capitol. He also served a rural region of Georgia in the state Senate and ran a grain and fertiliser business.

Trump’s nomination has been welcomed by US farm groups, but environmentalists have expressed reservations, questioning his commitment to tackling pollution and a skewed subsidy regime, and citing his prayer on the steps of the Capitol.

Commenting on the announcement, Friends of the Earth US’ food director Kari Hamerschlag said, “We are concerned that Perdue will use his position at the USDA to prioritize the profits of big agribusiness and trade over the interests of American farmers, workers and consumers. Farmers are among the most vulnerable to extreme weather events caused by climate change. This year was the hottest on record and farmers need a champion in the USDA who will fight for conservation programs to help farmers be more resilient in the face of extreme weather, not pray for rain.”

Hamerschlag also noted, “With the appointment of Sonny Perdue, Trump has created a cabinet with almost no racial or gender diversity. Of sixteen cabinet positions, Perdue is the twelfth white man to be appointed.”   

The nomination must still be approved by the US Senate. At time of writing, none of Trump’s proposed cabinet secretaries had been cleared by the Senate, where a spat is reportedly playing out between Republican senators in favour of a quick vote and Democrats who say they have not had time to properly vet Trump’s choices.