(BIVN) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will be on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi today and tomorrow, as he participates in the Western Governors Association General 2018 Winter Meeting being held this week at the Fairmont Orchid on the Kohala Coast.

The USDA says Secretary Perdue will be the Keaʻau-area of Puna this morning, visiting a W.H. Shipman papaya field and participating in a roundtable discussion with papaya growers, orchid growers, and Hawaii agriculture leadership. Puna agriculture took a big hit over the summer when the eruption of Kīlauea Volcano destroyed numerous farms.

Secretary Perdue will then head to Waimea, where he will tour Parker Ranch and hold a lunch discussion with Cattlemen.

On Wednesday, Secretary Perdue will deliver the keynote address at the Western Governors Association and then “participate in a MOU signing with Governor of Hawaii David Ige and North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum.”