The fight over Bill Northey’s nomination as undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Agriculture has turned into a T-shirt-wearing, letter-writing free-for-all between ethanol and oil interests.

And a direct battle of wits between U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds.

Reynolds grabbed attention Tuesday when she said she would be heading to Texas, wearing a “Free Bill” T-shirt, to try to persuade Cruz and oil interests not to stand in the way of Northey’s nomination and the ethanol interests. 

The same day, Cruz sent Reynolds a long letter in which he basically said he put a hold on Northey’s nomination because he wants a meeting scheduled at which the powers can find a way to support both the ethanol and oil interests. He mentioned that the system used to ensure oil companies are using enough ethanol is expensive and is costing too many jobs.

According to Iowa Public Radio, Reynolds said Tuesday that Northey “is a great secretary of ag. He would do a great job representing farmers and ranchers all across this country and, as far as I know, Texas has quite a few of them, too, so it’s time to ‘Free Bill’ and let’s move on and we’re going to be supporting the ‘Free Bill’ T-shirt as I head into Texas.”

In his letter to Reynolds, Cruz lauded Northey. “I greatly respect Mr. Northey’s experience as a fourth-generation farmer and his good reputation and history of service to Iowa, and hope that he will use his background and expertise to help the USDA do great things for the nation’s farmers going forward.”

But Cruz said the federal Renewable Fuel Standard and the related Renewable Identification Numbers, or credits, which refiners must submit, have gotten expensive, Cruz said. “Unfortunately, RIN prices — an artificial government-created construct — continue to skyrocket and the result is hurting refiners and the men and women they employ all across the country.” That benefits speculators, but not farmers or refiners, Cruz added.

“Surely we can agree that our nation’s (biofuels) policy should benefit corn farmers and hard-working refinery workers on Main Street, not fast-talking bankers on Wall Street,” Cruz told Reynolds. 

When I saw Northey — nominated by President Donald Trump for undersecretary of farm production and conservation — the other day, he was not in Washington preparing for his new job. He was in Des Moines attending a luncheon held by Iowans Supporting Israel to discuss a recent trade trip to the nation. 

I asked him briefly about the delay in his confirmation. He smiled — he does a lot of that — and seemed to be just waiting with the rest of us to see what happens.