Earl Lauer "Rusty"[1] Butz (July 3, 1909 – February 2, 2008) was a United States government official who served as the secretary of agriculture under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford.

[4] In his time heading the USDA, Butz drastically changed federal agricultural policy and re-engineered many New Deal-era farm support programs.

These policy shifts coincided with the rise of major agribusiness corporations, and the declining financial stability of the small family farm.

[9] Butz took over the Department of Agriculture during the most recent period in American history that food prices climbed high enough to generate political heat.

Butz had helped to arrange that sale in the hope of giving a boost to crop prices to bring restive farmers tempted to vote for George McGovern into the Republican fold.

At the 1974 World Food Conference in Rome, Butz made fun of Pope Paul VI's opposition to "population control" by quipping, in a mock Italian accent: "He no playa the game, he no maka the rules.

[12] News outlets revealed a racist remark he made in front of entertainers Pat Boone and Sonny Bono and former White House counsel John Dean while aboard a commercial flight to California following the 1976 Republican National Convention.

The October 18, 1976, issue of Time reported the comment while obscuring its vulgarity:[13] Butz started by telling a dirty joke involving intercourse between a dog and a skunk.

The Secretary responded with a line so obscene and insulting to blacks that it forced him out of the Cabinet last week and jolted the whole Ford campaign.

It's three things: first, a tight pussy; second, loose shoes; and third, a warm place to shit.” After some indecision, Dean used the line in Rolling Stone, attributing it to an unnamed Cabinet officer.

[24] In this debate he defended what he saw as the achievements of an industrial agriculture that was replacing the longstanding structure of small family farms and rural communities.

At an international conference in Geneva, Switzerland, sponsored by the Agri-Energy Roundtable (AER) on May 23, 1983, Butz warned his audience, concerning ethanol production and subsidies, "Those who ride the Tiger may find dismounting difficult".

A number of those present had represented their countries during the famous 1974 World Food Security Summit (Rome) where Butz had led the US delegation.