Tom Vilsack is the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. He is the former governor of Iowa.
Every day, rural America provides tremendous benefits for all of us – including folks in cities like Nashville.
Our farmers and ranchers provide an abundant and safe food supply that keeps costs for all Americans low at the grocery store. Rural conservation efforts provide clean water to our cities. Rural innovation has given us clean-burning fuel that also brings down prices at the pump. These are just a few examples.
Today in Nashville, I’ll thank members of the American Farm Bureau Federation for their many contributions to our nation when I visit with them at the Farm Bureau’s annual meeting. But I’m also going to discuss with our agriculture leaders a future of unlimited opportunity for rural America. I’m going to ask for their help to build new partnerships, and encourage new understanding among all Americans of the importance of our rural areas.
Amazing new innovation is going on today across rural America. New research has broadened our understanding of how to make advanced new biofuels from crops and plant products. We are learning more about amazing new wood-based fibers, providing everything from building materials to body armor. Our scientists are discovering groundbreaking medical benefits associated with many homegrown products.
At USDA we’re helping create new connections and new markets for this rural innovation. By building greater partnerships, we can ensure strong rural communities for the future while bringing more economic benefits to our cities.
We have expanded new markets for agriculture products – not just abroad, with a record level of exports in the past four years, but here at home through expanded farmers’ markets and new regional marketing opportunities.
We’ve invested in a new biobased economy, creating a “USDA Biobased Product” label that links manufacturers of more than 25,000 plant-based products with consumers. We’re also providing assistance at every step of the supply chain to help develop advanced biofuels from non-food sources.
We have taken steps to monetize the conservation efforts going on across rural America – for example, creating new ecosystem markets to help landowners earn revenue for conservation, while giving companies another option to meet regulatory requirements.
I am excited for the future, but to build up this prosperity, I am concerned that all Americans must gain an understanding for the importance and potential of rural areas. It’s a message I’m sharing around the country with groups that aren’t a traditional audience for the Secretary of Agriculture – most recently at a very positive meeting with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in December. Today I’ll encourage our agriculture leaders at the Farm Bureau to help me share this story.
The stakes are high. Two weeks ago, folks in rural America watched as Congress extended the current Farm Bill by nine months rather than taking action on a new multi-year Food, Farm and Jobs Bill. With a diminishing proportion of our citizens living in rural areas – about 16 percent today – they face a real challenge in being heard by Washington.
I’m going to do all I can this year to work with Congress to secure a new Food, Farm and Jobs Bill. But as I will share today with some of our nation’s top agriculture leaders, all of us must be proactive in telling the story of today’s modern, innovative, inspiring rural America.