A farmer leads dairy cows from the pasture to the milking barn at a creamery in Gallipolis, Ohio. The USDA launched a $3 billion plan to distribute food to families, called the Farmers to Family Food Box Program. Matthew Hatcher/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced on Thursday $16 billion in aid to help farmers hurt by the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute. Andrew Harnik/AP hide caption
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue and other USDA officials say the aid will be available in three forms; direct payments; government purchases for distribution to food banks; and development of new export markets. Jacquelyn Martin/AP hide caption
Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, the designated survivor for State of the Union address, was in a secure and undisclosed location Tuesday night. Mark Schiefelbein/AP hide caption
Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue is sworn-in before a Senate panel on Capitol Hill last month, prior to testifying at his confirmation hearing to be secretary of agriculture. Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP hide caption
Sonny Perdue, who's been named to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture, has held many political offices in his home state of Georgia. Farmers liked him. Environmentalists, not so much. Evan Vucci/AP hide caption