So much for dreams of a Secretary of Agriculture Mark Ritchie. Today, the AP confirms that Barack Obama will be naming Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack to the top USDA post. Ritchie, currently Minnesota Secretary of State, told the Minnesota Independent he wasn’t interested in the job, which he was suggested for by a bevy of big-name food and farm activists. Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin had recommended that the position go to Vilsack (pictured), who has advocated renewable energy and alternative fuels while governor (Minnesota’s Organic Consumers Association is none too fond of Vilsack, calling him “a schill for agribusiness biotech giants like Monsanto”).

Vilsack, who faced off against Obama early in the presidential campaign, will become the fourth cabinet member from the 2008 race, joining Vice President-elect Joe Biden, Secretary of State nominee Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, and commerce secretary Bill Richardson.

At tomorrow’s 10:45 a.m. press conference in Chicago, Obama is also expected to name Colorado Sen. Ken Salazar as interior secretary. The position oversees the country’s national parks and the U.S. Geological Survey, as well as the Interior Department’s 70,000 employees. Salazar (whose brother John, a Colorado congressman, was considered a front-runner for the agriculture secretary post) will reportedlly accept the position.