Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue announced he will embark this week on a five-state RV tour, titled the “Back to Our Roots” Tour.

Perdue’s tour — the first of two — will focus on Midwestern states: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and Indiana. The first stop will be the opening of the Wisconsin State Fair on Aug. 3 with Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican.

On the tour, Perdue “will gather input on the 2018 farm bill and increasing rural prosperity,” according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Along the way, Perdue, a former governor of Georgia, will meet with farmers, ranchers, foresters, producers, students, governors, members of Congress, Agriculture Department employees and others.

In a statement, Perdue said he will gather information about the farm bill because USDA “will be intimately involved” in providing information to Congress as members write the bill.

“The ‘Back to our Roots’ farm bill and rural prosperity RV listening tour will allow us to hear directly from people in agriculture across the country, as well as our consumers — they are the ones on the front lines of American agriculture and they know best what the current issues are,” Perdue said.

“USDA will be intimately involved as Congress deliberates and formulates the 2018 farm bill. We are committed to making the resources and the research available so that Congress can make good facts-based, data-driven decisions.

“It’s important to look at past practices to see what has worked and what has not worked, so that we create a farm bill for the future that will be embraced by American agriculture in 2018.”

Perdue’s Twitter account @SecretarySonny will use the hashtag #BackToOurRoots to report what he sees and hears on his tour, according to the USDA.