Department Of Agriculture

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FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2008 file photo, a combine cuts durum wheat near an oil well in Tioga, N.D. The federal Agriculture Department has revised its estimates of North Dakota wheat production, though the changes are small. The Agriculture Department in late October 2013 re-contacted farmers who still had crop in the field when surveys were done for the annual late-September small grains summary. North Dakota leads the nation in the production of both spring wheat and durum wheat. (AP Photo/James MacPherson, File)

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Sen. Tom Coburn, Oklahoma Republican questions why the Department of Agriculture is spending money on starting wine festivals, marketing a Bloody Mary mix and helping homeowners on tony Martha's Vineyard while Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack says the sequester is forcing him to cut off food aid for 600,000 needy women and children.

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**FILE** First lady Michelle Obama introduces the Department of Agriculture's new guide to healthy eating, My Plate, on June 2, 2011. The plate graphic replaces the familiar pyramid and has an accompanying website. (Associated Press)

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This undated handout image provided by the Agriculture Department shows the department's new healthy eating symbol: My Plate. The Agriculture Department says its new healthy eating symbol — called "My Plate" — will show Americans that nutrition doesn't have to be complicated. (AP Photo/Agriculture Department)

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Conservative media icon Andrew Breitbart. (Associated Press)

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Former Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Then-ousted Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod listens during a panel discussion at the National Association of Black Journalists Annual Convention in this July 29, 2010, file photo taken in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, right, puts his arm around former Agriculture Department official Shirley Sherrod, left, as they conclude a press conference at the Agriculture Department in Washington, Tuesday, Aug. 24, 2010. Mrs. Sherrod, the Agriculture Department official ousted during a racial firestorm last month, declined Tuesday to return to the agency, though she said it was tempting. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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Fired Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod is contemplating a lawsuit against blogger Andrew Breitbart for an edited video of her that he posted. (Associated Press)

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President Obama personally has called and apologized to the former Agriculture Department worker, Shirley Sherrod, who was fired this week after comments she made in a two-minute video clip which sparked claims of racism and a media frenzy. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Tighe Barry fom Los Angeles, Calif., right, and Zaccai Free, left, join a rally outside the Department of Agriculture building in Washington on Wednesday, July 21, in support of Shirley Sherrod, a former Agriculture Department's director of rural development in Georgia. The protesters demanded that Mrs. Sherrod be reinstated to her job (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tells reporters he acted in haste in firing Shirley Sherrod, a black U.S. Agriculture Department official, after it appeared she had made racist remarks in unfair and heavily edited video posted on a conservative website, during a news conference at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, Wednesday, July 21, 2010. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack tells reporters he acted in haste in regards to Shirley Sherrod, a black U.S. Agriculture Department official, after it appeared she had made racist remarks in unfair and heavily edited video posted on a conservative website, during a news conference at the Department of Agriculture in Washington, Wednesday, July 21, 2010. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

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Kenyatta Sherrod, left, and Russia Sherrod, the children of Shirley Sherrod, speak to a reporter after a rally in support for their mother on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, in Albany, Ga. The White House did a sudden about-face Wednesday and begged for forgiveness from the black Agriculture Department employee whose ouster ignited an embarrassing political firestorm over race. (AP Photo/The Albany Herald, Terry Lewis)

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Zaccai Free (center) joins a rally outside the Department of Agriculture in Washington on Wednesday, July 21, 2010, in support of Shirley Sherrod, the Agriculture Department's former director of rural development in Georgia, demanding that she be reinstated in her job. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

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Associated Press ACT OF CONTRITION: Agriculture Department employee Shirley Sherrod, fired Tuesday by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack after a video appearing to show her making racist remarks went viral, got an apology Wednesday from Mr. Vilsack.