DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gov. Kim Reynolds has named Iowa’s Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Mike Naig as the state’s new agriculture secretary. Reynolds made the announcement Thursday. Naig will replace Bill Northey, who was confirmed on Tuesday by the U.S. Senate to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services within the U.S. Agriculture Department.

Naig, who has been deputy agriculture secretary since 2013, will serve the remainder of Northey’s term, which runs through January. Reynolds says Naig has the “experience, knowledge and staff connections necessary” for the post.

Naig says he plans to build “on the momentum that has been created on water quality and accelerating our adoption of conservation practices.”