> ![](media/image1.jpeg){width="6.5in" height="1.45625in"}
>
> Release No. 0059.02
>
> **of**
>
> **Remarks by**
>
> **Secretary of Agriculture Ann M. Veneman**
>
> **78^th^ Agricultural Outlook Forum**
>
> **Crystal City, Va.**

# February 21, 2002

> Introduction by Deputy Secretary Jim Moseley:
>
> It is indeed a pleasure and an honor for me to have the opportunity to
> introduce our next speaker. Ann Veneman started in agriculture. She
> came from a farm in Modesto County, California, a peach farm. She
> participated in youth organizations, the 4H, I believe FFA, she\--no?
> One thing I knew, if I had it wrong, I\'d know. \[Laughter.\]
>
> **MR. MOSELEY:**
>
> "But she did participate in 4H growing up as a youngster. She got a
> degree in law, and in so doing; she found a love for agricultural
> trade.
>
> "She joined FAS, and then became Deputy for Farm and Foreign
> Agricultural Services at USDA in the late \'80s. In the early \'90s,
> she became Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, which is very helpful to
> me because she does understand the budget process at USDA, and tells
> me when I\'m wrong.
>
> "She left Washington, D.C., and went back to her roots in California,
> became the Secretary of Agriculture for California\--and as she would
> readily point out, if it were a country, the seventh largest
> agricultural economy in the world, clearly very important, a very
> important part of the U.S. agricultural economy.
>
> "On January 21 a year ago, she was sworn in as Secretary of
> Agriculture at USDA.
>
> "Ann Veneman has had a long and distinguished career, and she\'s
> doing, continues to do, and will do what she truly loves. That\'s
> representing and supporting agriculture. Help me welcome to the podium
> Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman."
>
> **\[Applause.\]**
>
> **SECRETARY VENEMAN:**
>
> "
>
> Thank you very much, Jim Moseley, for that very kind introduction.
>
> -more-
>
> -2-
>
> "I just whispered to him that the reason I wasn\'t in FFA is they
> wouldn\'t let women in when I was that age.
>
> **\[Laughter.\]**
>
> "Well, good morning to you all. It\'s a pleasure for me to be able to
> welcome you to the USDA\'s 78th Annual Agricultural Outlook Forum. The
> theme for this year\'s forum is \`Securing World Markets', which
> reflects one of the great challenges and opportunities facing American
> agriculture.
>
> "The forum organizers have done another outstanding job on this
> year\'s Agricultural Outlook Conference, and I would especially like
> to recognize Jerry Bange and Ray Bridge of the World Agricultural
> Outlook Board and the members of the organizing committee and the
> assistance of so many other people who have helped put this program
> together. They\'re listed in your program, and I hope when you see
> them that you will thank them personally.
>
> "President Bush sends his best wishes, and I think\--or I hope you all
> will agree with me that he is doing a tremendous job.
>
> **\[Applause.\]**
>
> "It\'s truly been an honor working with the President over the past
> year, and I can tell you from firsthand experience that he understands
> both the challenges and the opportunities facing agriculture in
> America. He is strongly committed to our farmers and ranchers and in
> fulfilling all of the great potential that lies ahead.
>
> "And our record during the past year has demonstrated that strong
> commitment through the advancement of sound policies and steering
> programs and services through what have been some very difficult and
> critical times.
>
> "Almost exactly to the day one year ago, I addressed the 77th
> Agricultural Outlook Forum. It was my first major address as
> Secretary. When we look back, since that time a lot has happened.
> We\'ve traveled a great deal to reach out and see and hear firsthand
> the issues important to America\'s farm and food sector. In fact, I
> have now traveled to over half the states in the country, several on
> multiple occasions, not to mention to five different countries to
> advance our trade agenda.
>
> "In fact, I just got home at 1:30 this morning from California; so if
> I\'m a little off today, please forgive me.
>
> "Of all of our responsibilities, one that I\'ve really enjoyed most is
> getting out in the heartland and having the opportunity to listen and
> talk directly to America\'s farmers and ranchers about the issues that
> are important to the industry.
>
> "As you may recall, in my speech a year ago I outlined the major
> priorities of the administration, and I am proud to report today that
> we have moved forward in many of the critical areas that I discussed
> that day, and we are meeting our commitments.
>
> -more-
>
> -3-
>
> "Today I want to review our progress in this short time that we\'ve
> been in office, a time that\'s gone very quickly, but in other ways
> seems like so long ago given all the events and all the challenges and
> all the issues that together we have faced.
>
> "First, a year ago we pledged to build and assemble a strong team to
> administer the programs and services that assist so many people in
> this country\--our farmers and ranchers, our consumers, our low-income
> Americans. For the most part, that team is now in place. Now we wish
> the Senate would move forward on a few other nominations that are long
> overdue. But our team is strong. It\'s talented. It\'s extremely
> diverse in background and in talent.
>
> "I\'m proud that our sub-Cabinet looks much like the face of America.
> We have farmers, economists, academia, lawyers, health and nutrition
> experts, some private sector gurus, and several who have served in
> government previously. As well, there\'s a lot of regional, ethnic,
> and gender diversity in our sub-Cabinet.
>
> "We have also assembled a very strong team of Deputy, Under, and
> Assistant Secretaries and Administrators of our program areas. I have
> to tell you I\'m proud of every one of them and of the jobs that they
> are doing.
>
> "But I\'d be remiss if I didn\'t also add my sincere appreciation and
> thanks to all the dedicated career USDA employees. Through the past
> year, with all the transition we\'ve been through, all the many issues
> we\'ve been through, you all have served us superbly. We could not
> have done it without you or achieved the successes without your
> commitment. Thank you very much, and I would like to have those career
> employees that are here from USDA stand up and be recognized.
>
> **\[Applause.\]**
>
> **SECRETARY VENEMAN:**
>
> "Thank you all for what you do. In last year\'s remarks, we pledged to
> seek opportunities to expand trade. Let\'s look at what we\'ve been
> able to accomplish this past year. We\'ve launched a new round of WTO
> negotiations in Doha. We\'ve worked hard to get passage of Trade
> Promotion Authority out of the House of Representatives and are on the
> verge of action being taken in the Senate.
>
> "We have traveled to Canada to move forward on the Free Trade
> Agreement of the Americas, and we\'ve moved aggressively on new
> bilateral agreements. And together with Ambassador Zoellick and
> Secretary Evans, we started to tear down the walls and the barriers
> that hurt America\'s farmers and ranchers.
>
> "We are opening new markets in which to compete. We will now see more
> access to China because of their entry into the WTO, and this summer
> we\'ll even see some U.S. table grapes entering the Australian market,
> something that I just announced yesterday while I was in California.
>
> "We\'ve had to be firm in many cases as well. For example, just last
> week we announced a series of actions because of the monopolistic
> practices by the Canadian Wheat Board. And we continue fighting for
> America\'s farmers and ranchers in the trade arena. Our administration
> is doing just that.
>
> -more-
>
> -4-
>
> "During the past year, we have also worked very hard on our domestic
> farm programs. Last year I talked with you about the importance of
> having market-oriented economic safety nets to help America\'s farmers
> and ranchers. This included in my mind the need to achieve estate and
> income tax reform. The President fought hard for tax cuts. He achieved
> his goal and got a tax cut for every taxpaying American. And he said
> he would put an end to the\--and put death to the death tax, and I\'m
> proud to say that we are well on our way to ending this unfair tax on
> America\'s farmers and ranchers.
>
> "In August, the President authorized a \$5.5 billion emergency
> supplemental package to provide producers with assistance. We worked
> hard to cut down the processing time, and just one day after the
> President signed that assistance package into law, we began delivering
> the checks to farmers. And we have attempted to reduce the paperwork
> farmers and ranchers must fill out to get emergency aid.
>
> "We\'ve also spent a great deal of time on Capitol Hill discussing and
> debating the next farm bill. We supported the farm bill approach that
> was put forward by Senators Cochran and Roberts. An important step for
> us was the release of our stocktaking report on food and agriculture
> policy. Early last year, I pledged to produce a set of farm policy
> principles that represented the administration\'s view of the future
> of American agriculture. And by the end of the summer, even with most
> of our sub-Cabinet only on board for a couple of months or just a few
> months, we released a comprehensive analysis and principles for the
> future of farm policies. That report, which is entitled \"Food and
> Agriculture Policy: Taking Stock for the 21st Century,\" has been well
> received and has helped to shape the debate on food and agriculture
> policy over the last several months. I hope that it will continue to
> serve as a guide for years to come.
>
> "The House and the Senate are now reconciling their versions of the
> new farm bill. There is no disagreement about total funding. We\'ve
> all agreed that a new farm bill should add \$73.5 billion to farm
> program spending over the next decade. However, a new farm bill should
> not just be about how much money is spent. It should be about the
> money being spent in the most productive way. And we\'re going to work
> hard and have been working hard with the Congress, but we will work
> hard with the conferees to ensure that the new farm bill meets
> common-sense principles.
>
> "We want to make sure that when the bill is passed, the \$73.5 billion
> is spent relatively evenly over the decade so that in the out-years
> there is sufficient funding to help farmers and ranchers if markets
> don\'t improve. We\'ve been through that situation all too often over
> the past four years. We want a stable farm policy, one that farmers
> and ranchers and their bankers can count on year in and year out.
>
> "The new farm bill must provide a safety net for farmers without
> encouraging them to overproduce and thereby depressing prices, which
> is self-defeating. By setting loan rates too high, we could easily
> further depress producers\' returns from the marketplace.
>
> "And we hope that farm savings accounts which don\'t disrupt markets
> can become a new risk management tool, a kind of 401(k) especially for
> farmers, and that these complement as a new tool in the toolbox the
> traditional farm programs.
>
> "The new farm bill must also support trade and be consistent with our
> international obligations. The United States must lead the push for
> freer and more transparent trade.
>
> -more-
>
> -5-
>
> "Our farmers and ranchers are the most efficient in the world, and
> they have much to gain from free trade. Farm and trade policy must go
> hand in hand and not go in opposite directions.
>
> "But we also need to think of trade from the standpoint of what we
> stand to lose if we do not continue to seek more and new\--new and
> more open markets. Today we export about a fourth of what we produce
> in this country by value. What would happen if those markets
> disappeared because we failed to negotiate new agreements or if we
> turned inward in our trade policies?
>
> "We\'ve seen in recent years the European Union, Canada, Australia,
> and Chile start chipping away at our natural markets because of
> inaction here in America. We need to continue to be aggressive in our
> trade policies to better our farm and food economy.
>
> "The farm bill also needs to help farmers and ranchers address
> environmental concerns. Government bureaucracy and regulation needs to
> be kept to a minimum. More bureaucracy and regulation restricts choice
> and increases the costs that are placed on producers.
>
> "Good conservation policies should enable producers to make better and
> more informed decisions and provide flexible program tools to address
> environmental concerns. As the President and I often say, farmers and
> ranchers are the best stewards of the land. They are the true
> environmentalists, and we need to give them the tools to help
> cultivate and manage working lands.
>
> "You may also recall that last year when I spoke to you, I said that a
> continuing challenge to agriculture is pest and disease prevention and
> eradication. We pledged at that time to make strengthening pest and
> disease programs a priority, saying that these programs are the very
> infrastructure of production agriculture, and that only through these
> programs would agriculture continue to thrive and prosper.
>
> "Well, just a few weeks after my speech, those very protection systems
> were put to the test with the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in
> England. We then watched as it spread to other parts of Europe and to
> South America. In response, we immediately began working more closely
> with our states, our federal partners, and industry to ensure stronger
> protection.
>
> "We prohibited products, increased inspections at our ports of entry,
> and strengthened our inspection force to the highest levels ever
> through our budget authority. And when we thought things were
> beginning to come under control, the events of September 11th brought
> to the forefront the issue of homeland security\--two words that were
> rarely even used in the pre-September 11th world. But today those
> words are one of the cornerstones of this administration\'s
> priorities.
>
> "As part of our homeland security efforts, assisting the security of
> U.S. food and agriculture production systems and the safety of our
> food supply is a critical priority. And I want to thank our Deputy
> Secretary Jim Moseley for the tremendous job he\'s doing leading the
> day-to-day efforts for the Department. Thank you, Jim.
>
> -more-
>
> -6-
>
> **\[Applause.\]**
>
> "Working with Governor Ridge and the Office of Homeland Security, we
> are doing everything in our power to ensure that our enemies will not
> be able to use our food supply as a weapon.
>
> "The President has made agriculture an important part of his homeland
> security plan. In his budget released earlier this month, President
> Bush asked for \$146 million in new spending for homeland security
> efforts through the U.S. Department of Agriculture. And as part of the
> Defense Supplemental Appropriations Act, signed just a few weeks ago,
> he also committed \$328 million to that goal.
>
> "These new resources will invest in critical issues: additional
> inspectors, new computer technologies, X-ray equipment, new dog teams,
> research and renovations at key laboratories\--all to help improve the
> strong systems that we already have in place.
>
> "These are often the kinds of programs that are overlooked in the
> budget and farm bill processes, but they are too important and too
> critical to our industry as a whole to receive second billing.
>
> "While we have good news to report today, we can\'t afford to let down
> our guard. We have to continue working hard to make sure that the
> infrastructure programs remain strong.
>
> "Last year, I also said that our regulatory environment must not be so
> burdensome that it places undue costs on the farm economy. We pledged
> to ensure that regulations are based on sound science and common sense
> and that we will work toward solutions and bring all parties together
> in the process.
>
> "One example of where we\'ve accomplished this has been our roadless
> rule in protecting our national forests. We moved the process forward.
> We forged a solution that made sure that local communities were not
> left out of this important decision-making while we advanced the
> important objective of protecting our public lands.
>
> "A sound regulatory process couldn\'t be more important than in the
> area of food safety. Last year I said that we must maintain consumer
> confidence in our food supply. This year we have faced many challenges
> on this front. We released two annual budgets that have called for
> record spending for food safety, fully funding our inspection force
> and investing in critical research to help safeguard our food supply.
>
> "We released a comprehensive 3-year study on BSE, and even though that
> study, which was conducted by Harvard University, showed that our
> efforts to date are strong and the risk of a potential outbreak was
> extremely low, we announced additional measures to continue to
> strengthen our protection systems.
>
> "And today, just three months following the release of that report,
> I\'m proud to say that we are making good progress on the additional
> steps that we announced. We are well on the way to more than doubling
> the testing this year, particularly animals that die on farms.
>
> -more-
>
> -7-
>
> We\'ve issued a policy paper outlining additional regulatory actions
> that could be taken to strengthen BSE safeguards and, among other
> areas, we\'ve increased our budget for BSE surveillance and research.
>
> "Last year in my remarks to you, we also pledged to encourage
> technology development through research to accelerate our search for
> innovative uses for farm products. As I said then, energy was a prime
> example. Last spring President Bush released a comprehensive energy
> strategy for the nation, the first such strategy on energy to be
> released in a generation. And I was proud to be a part of the task
> force that developed that report.
>
> "In fact, it is the first\--in fact, it is a strategy that looks to
> agriculture for energy solutions. We\'ve also provided more research
> dollars in critical areas. Our 2003 budget requests \$2.3 billion for
> priority research projects, and the defense supplemental
> appropriations recently approved by the President includes roughly
> another \$100 million for critical research needs.
>
> "We\'ve also established the Biotech Advisory Committee that is
> closely examining efforts to promote and advance the benefits of
> biotech, value-added, and innovation in the food and agriculture
> sector.
>
> "Now, as we look forward to the coming year and the priorities of the
> Department, implementation of the new farm bill stands at the top of
> the list. Once Congress passes the new farm bill and it\'s signed by
> the President, we need to be ready to move forward with
> implementation. Our employees must be ready to do a lot of work to get
> the farm bill implemented quickly so that farmers know what they are
> eligible for and what they have to do under the new bill.
>
> "This will be a big task, and so we must be ready once the bill is
> signed to implement the programs as fast as we can, and that requires
> early planning, which we are doing as I speak.
>
> "In the year ahead, homeland security will remain a top priority. As I
> already mentioned, the events of September 11th have made us look even
> more closely at our ability to protect our food supply. We\'re working
> with the entire food chain, from production to processing, to
> transportation, to retailing, and everything in between. We want to
> make sure that we have the best management practices, a strong system
> of checks and balances, and that we\'re able to deal with any
> circumstance, deliberate or accidental, that might affect our food
> supply.
>
> "In the year ahead, another priority is creating trade opportunities
> for our farmers and ranchers. In this country, we grow so much more
> than we consume, and we have to continue to open new markets, and that
> means making sure that other countries live up to their trade
> obligations. That means we need to make sure that phytosanitary and
> sanitary regulations are based on sound science, not allowing other
> countries to restrict products, including the products of
> biotechnology, under the banner of protectionism.
>
> 'In this last year, we\'ve seen the European Union, Japan, and China
> announce certain policy initiatives that are wrong-headed, that would
> move free and open markets backward, and that would hurt U.S. farmers
>
> -more-
>
> -8-
>
> We need to stand strong, and we need to make sure these countries keep
> trade open and that we eliminate unfair trade practices.
>
> "Even with these differences, we must continue to have constructive
> dialogue so we can advance our trade agenda, not create more barriers.
> And Congress needs to grant the President Trade Promotion Authority.
> Ever since fast-track authority expired in 1994, the United States has
> had to sit on the sidelines as other countries have shaped trade
> agreements beneficial to their industry and their people. The
> agriculture community has been one of the strongest advocates for
> Trade Promotion Authority, and the President has appreciated that
> continued support.
>
> "In the year ahead, we must also improve the food assistance safety
> net. Welfare reform created some gaps, and some people have fallen
> through the cracks. The President\'s fiscal year 2003 budget reflects
> the administration\'s commitment to filling those cracks by providing
> a record \$41 billion for domestic nutrition assistance programs,
> important not only in feeding our people but in fueling our
> agricultural economy as well.
>
> "The budget proposes legislation that would add more than \$4 billion
> to the food stamp program over the next 10 years, to include
> eligibility for legal immigrants who have resided in the U.S. for at
> least 5 years, streamline the application process and to revise
> eligibility requirements for working families.
>
> "Changes in program administration and enhanced funding will ensure
> that needy households get the assistance they need while helping
> states reduce payment errors and costs.
>
> "Another area I\'d like to focus on this morning is conservation and
> the environment, where imaginative new thinking is creating exciting
> prospects for our farmers and for the nation. The farm bill is a good
> example. With bipartisan support of policymakers representing both
> farm and urban constituents, the House and Senate have allocated
> billions of additional dollars over the next several years to help
> farmers and ranchers address environmental concerns on working
> farmland. This is a momentous change, with strong implications for the
> future of farm programs and the farm safety net. This increased
> funding will provide incentives for farmers and ranchers to adopt
> conservation practices that reduce soil erosion, practices that reduce
> fertilizer and manure runoff into our waterways, and practices that
> enhance wildlife.
>
> "The new funds will be an especially big help to livestock producers
> who find themselves greatly challenged by the need to boost production
> and protect the environment at the same time. The funding for the
> Environmental Quality Incentives Program or EQIP, as it\'s commonly
> referred to, will allow more widespread assistance, as well as
> opportunities, for innovative practices. This will help us all, as
> non-Federal rural lands comprise over 70 percent of the total surface
> in the United States and almost all of these lands are under the
> control of farmers and ranchers.
>
> -more-
>
> -9-
>
> "The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program or CREP, as it\'s
> referred to, is a revolutionary new voluntary incentive, using State,
> Federal and non-Government funding to help solve environmental
> problems. Designed to address specific grassroots environmental issues
> related to agriculture, CREP combines the CRP or the Conservation
> Reserve Program with State programs, allowing USDA to work in
> partnership with State Government and local interests to address local
> environmental concerns.
>
> "We now have CREP agreements in 20 States and agreements with six more
> States are under consideration. Within the CRP, we have continuous
> sign-up, where farmers can enroll land and apply conservation
> practices like filter strip waterways, windbreaks and riparian buffers
> on small acreages. This targeted approach helps solve environmental
> problems without retiring whole farms from production.
>
> "Under CREP and continuous sign-up, we now have enrolled 1.9 million
> acres of some of the most environmentally sensitive land in 47 States.
> In my home State of California and in other States, State and local
> governments, landowners and private citizens are coming together to
> guide land-use planning decisions and to implement programs that allow
> farmers and private landowners to voluntarily protect their land from
> development.
>
> "These state and local efforts will be assisted at the federal level
> by increased funding for the farmland protection program authorized in
> both the House and Senate farm bills. Together, these efforts will
> reduce the conversion of farmland to non-farm uses and preserve open
> space for the broad enjoyment of all.
>
> "Another successful partnership with federal and state governments and
> producers has been the boll weevil eradication program. Boll weevils
> arrived in the United States from Mexico in 1892 and have cost the
> United States cotton industry an estimated \$14 billion. Through the
> joint efforts of growers and state and the federal governments, the
> program has been successful in eradicating weevils from Virginia and
> the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, California,
> areas of Texas and Arizona, greatly reducing the amount of pesticides
> that farmers would otherwise have to use, and thereby reducing their
> input costs.
>
> "While new funding and program design are posed to bring success and
> conservation efforts to a new level, it is the convergence of
> environmental needs and advances in technology that places us on the
> threshold of bold, new economic opportunities for producers.
>
> "Let me use one example to illustrate this convergence. Ag 2020 is a
> unique industry-government partnership driven by the needs of
> producers. The partnership is a result of a year-long dialogue between
> NASA, USDA, the National Corn Growers Association, the Cotton Council,
> the United Soybean Board, and the National Association of Wheat
> Growers. Ag 2020 employs remote-sensing technology to assist farmers
> in key decisions such as timing and location of fertilizer, herbicide
> and pesticide, and irrigation applications, and the early prediction
> of yield and harvest quality.
>
> "The application of technologies such as these and the use of Bt
> cotton are reducing pesticide use, contributing to farming practices
> that are less harmful to the environment, and of course enhancing
> economic returns to farmers.
>
> -more-
>
> -10-
>
> "Another example is a recent EQIP project, where we provide a cost
> share on a manure injector for a dairy farm. The injector allows for
> site application of manure under the soil, reducing nutrient runoff,
> atmosphere loss and odor.
>
> "Through public and private research, we are seeing new products being
> developed from traditional bulk commodities, new products that enhance
> the nutritional characteristics of the food we eat and new seeds that
> are more productive, more tolerant to drought and would reduce the
> need for pesticides.
>
> "These research developments are helping farmers reduce their costs
> and farm in more environmentally friendly ways. In addition, new
> technology is increasing the demand for agricultural products by
> discovering alternative uses that not only increase returns to
> producers, but also provide consumers with products that are better
> for the environment.
>
> "Many of you already know about the success story of ethanol. In 2001,
> ethanol production reached a record 1.8 billion gallons, up 20 percent
> from 1999, and utilizing some 600 million bushels of corn. Seventeen
> new plants are currently under construction which, when finished, will
> bring annual production capacity to over 2.5 billion gallons.
>
> "The energy bill, which is now pending in the Senate, contains a
> renewable fuel standard. If this becomes law, ethanol use could triple
> over the next decade, a dramatic increase in a domestically produced
> renewable fuel that reduces carbon monoxide and toxic air emissions.
>
> "This administration is committed to the kind of programs that support
> agriculture as an energy solution.
>
> "Here\'s another example that you may not have heard about.
> Cargill-Dow, a new enterprise, has built a bio-refinery in Nebraska
> that uses dextrose to produce textile fibers and plastics. This truly
> amazing fabric is now being commercially produced from corn, and has a
> better dye-holding capacity and other characteristics than traditional
> synthetic fibers. Cargill-Dow believes we are not too far away from
> bringing cellulose crops in one door of a bio-refinery and fiber and
> plastic out the other.
>
> "Science and technology are changing every aspect of our lives.
> Technology is changing the way food is produced, marketed, distributed
> in this country and around the world. And medicine and biotechnology
> are coming together, spurred on by human genome mapping. In the not
> too distant future, we will be producing new crops and products that
> will help heal and make people healthier. This, too, will create new
> opportunities for our farmers.
>
> "As I go around the country, I run into many people who are down on
> the future of agriculture. Now that\'s understandable, given the
> current market situation for some farm products and the economic
> situation in some of our rural communities around the country. But one
> of the most enjoyable parts is meeting with students and talking with
> them about the tremendous opportunities of the future.
>
> -more-
>
> -11-
>
> "Last month I kicked off a new initiative, \"Leaders of Tomorrow,\"
> which we hope will make a small difference in the lives of some young
> people. This effort is in support of President Bush\'s call for
> Americans to give back to their country and become even better public
> citizens. This year, I am speaking at about a dozen major colleges,
> talking directly to ag students at those schools. In addition, when we
> travel around the country, I\'m adopting a student leader for the day
> on being a mentor to an FFA or 4-H student, and we\'re having a lot of
> fun doing it.
>
> "Last week in Louisiana, two students introduced me to an audience of
> about 50 farmers. One student conducted a radio interview with me, and
> an FFA student and 4-H student had lunch in a group that we met with
> in Texas. So far it\'s been a truly rewarding experience, and I
> encourage each of you to reach out this year, as well, and lend a
> helping hand to those who are in need or could use a mentor.
>
> "I, for one, am excited about the future of U.S. agriculture. While
> the current climate for agriculture has been hampered by natural
> disasters and most recently have certainly been clouded by the events
> of 9/11, a slowing of the U.S. and world economy and continued slow
> growth and demand for some agriculture products, I do continue to be
> bullish on American agriculture.
>
> "I believe we\'re on the doorstep of a new era of resourcefulness and
> partnership in agriculture. Farmers, ranchers, processors,
> distributors, policy makers, and many others are actively engaged in
> making American agriculture and our food system grow and thrive.
> We\'re working together to address the age-old and new issues facing
> producers.
>
> "These issues range from meeting the increasing and changing needs of
> consumers, developing new products that add value to what we produce,
> food safety and ensuring that our natural environment is protected,
> preserved, and enhanced. We have a lot of work to do, but the future
> does hold enormous promise, and that promise can only be cultivated
> through a new generation of leaders and an innovative approach to farm
> and food policy.
>
> "We will continue to pursue policies and thinking that help cultivate
> the next generation of farmers, ranchers, and food producers to grow
> our farm economy by producing the best, most efficient and
> technologically advanced products in the world.
>
> "Thank you very much for having me here today, and best wishes to all
> of you for a very successful conference.
>
> **\[Applause.\]**
>
> \#