Former secretary of agriculture Robert Bergland died on Sunday at the age of 90. He was a wheat farmer from northern Minnesota who served under President Jimmy Carter during the highly controversial Soviet Union grain embargo.

Bergland, a Democrat, was a U.S. House member representing Minnesota's 7th District from 1971 to 1977 before becoming agriculture secretary under Carter until 1981.

After his Washington years, Bergland was president of Farmland-Eaton World Trade in 1981-82. He then became executive vice president and general manager of the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association until his retirement in 1993.

Bergland died at a nursing home in this hometown of Roseau, his daughter reported.

Fellow Minnesota native Rep. Collin Peterson (D., Minn.) said in a statement he was sorry to hear of the passing of Bergland. “Bob served the Seventh District of Minnesota exceptionally before taking his farmer’s experience and work ethic to USDA to make sure that crop insurance, rural development, conservation and research programs worked better for farmers and ranchers across the country. I was fortunate to have visited with him back in August and am proud to continue in his footsteps in serving the residents of the 7th District.”

Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party Chairman Ken Martin said in a statement that Bergland was “a champion of American farmers and consumers.”

“Growing up poor in the farmlands of Western Minnesota, Bob understood the difficulties and obstacles that face family farmers as well as anyone,” according to Martin’s statement. “After losing his farm to foreclosure as a young man, Bob dedicated his life to elevating the standard of living for hard-working family farmers while at the same time safeguarding the interests of American consumers.”