ATLANTA – President-elect Donald Trump has picked another Georgian for a high-profile cabinet position, this time tapping former Gov. Sonny Perdue to head the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Word of Perdue’s nomination spread mid-week, just as Georgia Congressman Tom Price faced congressional hearings for his nomination as health and human services secretary.

“We haven’t had this much influence in Washington since we had a president from here,” Rep. Jason Shaw, R-Lakeland, said Thursday afternoon, referring to President Jimmy Carter’s administration in the late 1970s.

Perdue spent more than a decade representing Houston County in the state Senate before ascending to the governor’s office in 2003. He was the state’s first Republican governor in more than a century.

A two-term governor, he famously led a prayer for rain on the Capitol steps during the height of the drought in 2007.

The 70-year-old Perry native has an extensive background in agribusiness and trucking. He also worked briefly as a veterinarian.

It’s a background that many say will serve him well in the top spot at the Department of Agriculture, where he’ll oversee services as varied as the food stamp program, rural economic development and financial assistance for farmers.

The expansive department employs 100,000 people working in 29 agencies, from the U.S. Forest Service to the Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotions, which created the food pyramid.

But Perdue’s decades in public office have also yielded decisions that some say make him a poor choice. Environmental groups including the Sierra Club oppose his nomination.

Mark Woodall, a legislative chairman with the group’s Georgia chapter, points to gutting of the state’s predatory lending law, which he said had a detrimental effect on farmers and homeowners.

“That was just a complete sell-out to the big banks,” said Woodall, a tree farmer in Talbot County. “I mean, I thought we were looking for people to drain the swamp. This is more of the same, as far as backing the big banks and industrial agriculture.

“I guess he’d be good for big-chicken in Georgia,” Woodall quipped, referring to one of Georgia’s largest agricultural industries.

The national Sierra Club cited Perdue’s past skepticism toward climate change, as well as funding sent to projects in his home county at the end of his administration without legislative approval, as reasons for wariness.

But in Georgia’s agricultural community, the news sparked a renewed optimism.

“It’s going to give us not just a seat at the table, but the seat at the table,” said Shaw, who is also an olive farmer.

There’s a sense here that two key Southern crops – peanuts and cotton – are largely given short shrift while Midwestern grain-producers take priority.

President Obama’s agriculture secretary, notably, hailed from Iowa.

Perdue understands Georgia’s diverse agricultural economy, Rep. Sam Watson, R-Moultrie, a vegetable farmer.

“Hopefully, going forward, we’ll be able to have a better voice,” he said. “Because I feel like before all they wanted to talk about was corn and soybeans and wheat.”

Likewise, Georgia’s congressional delegation praised the decision Thursday.

“Agriculture is Georgia’s leading industry, so we’re glad to have someone who understands our state’s agricultural needs and act as a champion for the needs of our farmers, ranchers, and manufacturers in the U.S. Department of Agriculture,” said Rep. Austin Scott, a Republican who represents Moultrie, Tifton, Thomasville and part of Valdosta, said in a statement.

From Perdue’s cousin, U.S. Sen. David Perdue, who played an instrumental role in Trump’s presidential campaign in Georgia: “I am confident Sonny will work hard to advance smart agriculture policies that will help our farmers, ranchers, and rural communities across the country.”

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.