"Even from the Republican side of the aisle there is a sentiment that practical, pragmatic things can be done in the near term," Page said. "I think it could happen in this administration."

"On a corporate level it touches on almost every part of our business, whether it's transportation, fertilization, acreage," he added, referring to climate change.

Page, a 33-year Cargill veteran who spent years running its EXCEL and red-meat production businesses, will become the sprawling agribusiness and trading conglomerate's eighth CEO and fourth from outside the Cargill and MacMillan families, who still own just more than 90 percent of the company.

IMMIGRATION REFORM

The 55-year-old Page, who runs 20 to 25 miles a week, covered a range of issues in the interview at his office at Cargill's 250-acre headquarters site located in a wooded Minneapolis suburb.

On immigration reform, Page said it was important for the US government to clear up confusing and conflicting rules about foreign workers and residents. Cargill's lobbying efforts in Washington are centered on gaining tools for employers to confirm the identities of employees, he said.

"We have to come up with some process that gains control of the borders, provides a pathway to citizenship and allows employers a way to know who they've hired," Page said.

Asked if 142-year-old Cargill, the second-largest privately owned corporation in the United States, would consider selling shares to the public in future through an initial public offering, Page said: "I wake up every day with the goal to ensure that we have every opportunity to remain private."

FOOD VERSUS FUEL DEBATE

The descendants of the Cargill and MacMillan families now own slightly more than 90 percent of Cargill, with the rest owned by management and employees, Page said.

In 2006, Cargill's sales of US$75.2 billion would have ranked it 18th on the Fortune 500 list of largest publicly traded US corporations.

Cargill, one of the world's largest food exporters and a leading biofuels producer, has also found itself in the center of the debate over using grain for food or for fuel.

The company is investing in both, but worries that biofuel mandates raise questions about how much land needs to be brought into production for fuel crops. There are more than 200 million acres of pasture land in Brazil, for example, Page said.