21—1.1 (159) Organization.
	 1.1(1) “Department” means the department of agriculture and land stewardship.
	 1.1(2) “Secretary” means the secretary of agriculture who is the head of the department.
	 1.1(3) The deputy secretary of agriculture advises the secretary and has the statutory authority to perform any of the duties required or authorized of the secretary in the secretary’s absence or through explicit directions or tacit consent.
	 1.1(4) The department is organized into three branches known as the consumer protection and regulatory affairs division, the market development and administrative services division, and the soil conservation division. A division director heads each division. The directors assist the secretary in the implementation of the secretary’s policies within the various bureaus, laboratories, and units assigned to that division. The directors shall also assist the secretary in supervising the work of the various bureaus and units assigned to that division, provide the expertise of their division to other divisions where appropriate, and perform other duties as assigned by the secretary.
	 1.1(5) The agricultural development authority is a semiautonomous agency functioning within the department to provide a beginning farmer loan program and other agricultural financing programs. The powers of the agricultural development authority are vested in a board of directors, and its rules appear at 25—Chapter 1, et seq., Iowa Administrative Code. The executive director is appointed by a selection and tenure committee composed of the secretary and the chairperson and vice chairperson of the agricultural development authority’s board of directors.
	 1.1(6) The grain indemnity fund board is an autonomous agency of which the secretary is president. The board operates in conjunction with the grain warehouse bureau of the department, determining and providing for payment of claims which arise as a result of the failure of a grain dealer or warehouse operator and administering the Iowa grain depositors and sellers indemnity fund. The rules for the board’s organization and operations and its procedures for resolving claims appear in 21—Chapters 63 and 64, Iowa Administrative Code.
	 1.1(7) The Iowa board of veterinary medicine is an autonomous agency functioning within the department to provide for the licensing and disciplining of veterinarians and veterinary assistants. The powers of the Iowa board of veterinary medicine are vested in the board pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 169, and its rules appear at 811—Chapter 1, et seq., Iowa Administrative Code. The secretary appoints the state veterinarian who, pursuant to Iowa Code section 169.5, serves as secretary to the board.