John R. Block

John R. Block currently serves as senior policy advisor at Olsson, Frank, and Weeda. His accomplishments in agriculture began with the building of a large and successful hog operation in his home state of Illinois, where he also served as the director of agriculture from 1977 to 1981. Block was tapped by President Ronald Reagan to serve as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture from 1981 to 1985, where he played a key role in the development of the 1985 Farm Bill. He was president and chief executive officer of Food Distributors International (formerly National American Wholesale Grocers Association) from 1986 to January 2003.