WATERLOO - Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey discussed the future in a visit to Waterloo Monday.

Northey was looking down the road at the upcoming fiscal year and his political future while getting a glimpse of the future of Waterloo.

Northey toured agriculture research and development center Cedar Valley TechWorks during his visit.

"There's so many possibilities here," Northey said. "This has some extremely flexible ways to do the research and create products."

Cary Darrah, TechWorks general manager, showed Northey the future home of Northern Iowa's National Ag-based Lubricants, or NABL. The company is TechWorks' first tenant and will occupy the third floor of one of two former John Deere production buildings on the TechWorks site.

"The rest of the floors are pretty raw," Darrah said.

"They're raw because you can do anything you'd like to them, right?" Northey said.

Northey said he can help spread the word about the project but much of the talk will probably come from within the industry.

"When that community of experimenters talks to each other, you create a buzz that this is the place to go," he said.

In his visit, Northey hinted he may be in a position to help for another term saying he "wouldn't be at all surprised if I run for secretary of agriculture again." He said he expects to make an announcement in the next few weeks.

He said it's tempting to pursue higher office in a time of economic distress and ballooning state deficits. Northey expressed his displeasure with Gov. Chet Culver's $830 million I-Jobs plan, which he said probably won't "magically jump start the economy."

Instead, he predicted his newborn granddaughter will be 25 years old when the debt for the long-forgotten program is finally repaid.

"I have a real concern if that's the right way to go," he said.

After the department of agriculture absorbed a $3.3 million budget cut for the upcoming fiscal year, Northey looked ahead to 2011 and expects deeper cuts. He said the department avoided deep cuts by not filling open positions and instituting furloughs.

But next year he said the department will likely have to look at cutting programs like the Iowa Farmers' Market Nutrition coupons delivered through Women, Infants and Children, or WIC.

"It's not something you want to do, but if it's between that and food safety, we have to choose something," Northey said.