Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey won confirmation from the U.S. Senate today as U.S. Department of Agriculture undersecretary for farm production and conservation. The voice vote confirmation came after months of waiting as Sen. Ted Cruz blocked the confirmation over concerns about the ethanol industry, which happened to be the topic of a meeting with President Donald Trump today. “While this process has taken longer than expected, I remain as excited as ever to work with (Agriculture) Secretary (Sonny) Perdue and the staff at USDA to support our nation’s farmers and ranchers,” Northey said in a statement. Northey has served as Iowa’s ag secretary for 11 years. He was nominated to the USDA post in September 2017.