Washington and rural America are buzzing about who President-Elect Obama will name as Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Will the person be a current Member of Congress, a current or past Governor, (elected) State Secretary or (an appointed) State Director of Agriculture? There is even speculation about the political party of the person to be named with some believing that USDA will be the place for a Republican member of the Obama Cabinet to emerge. Others, of course, are suggesting individuals who would re-open the Farm Bill and shift the emphasis of many USDA programs. The questions within the Obama camp seem to align around whether it is better to name a person from Midwest production agriculture, a person from the Northeast with experience in dairy, someone from sustainable agriculture, or a reformer with strong ideas around future agriculture programs and landscape for the United States.
My Rural America is following this debate as it leaks out into the national and agriculture press and rumors circulate in Washington, and has made the decision to stay neutral in President-Elect Obama's selection process. However, we do recognize how important it is that our next Secretary, and his or her Deputy Secretary, understand the breadth and depth of the job that they must perform on a domestic and global basis. MRA believes that sometimes there is need for more understanding about the numerous responsibilities of USDA on the domestic and global stage and also within the U.S. government, with all factors contributing to many aspects of our nation's economy.
So what are some of the important personal responsibilities of the Secretary of Agriculture? We believe it necessary that our next Secretary and also the Deputy Secretary have a familiarity, if not expertise, in most or all areas of USDA's responsibilities, including the following:
o Farm and Agriculture: Loans, conservation programs, commodity programs;
o Foreign Agriculture: Exports, imports, international trade negotiations such as the current DOHA Round and maintaining the agriculture attaches work on issues worldwide;
o Marketing and Grading Programs: For everything from cotton to dairy, and their interaction with other parts of the USDA;
o Feeding Programs to Enhance Nutritional Well-being of all Americans: School Lunch and especially for the less fortunate via administration of the newly named Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (now "SNAP", formerly "Food Stamps"), Women’s Infants and Children’s Program (WIC), and feeding programs for the elderly♦ and emergencies;
o Human Food Safety: For meat, poultry and egg products, and animal and plant health and safety, and capabilities to deter bioterrorism and other criminal contamination of the food supply, and to respond to them should they ever occur;
o Rural Development: Expansion of broadband Internet access, telephones, electric and funding for economic projects offering specific opportunities to rural U.S. citizens, their communities and their businesses;
o Care of our nation's natural resources: Land conservation, forests and waters, and the general environment of rural America.
o Research: USDA performs more basic and applied agricultural, biological, animal and nutritional research than any other entity in the world through its national network of laboratories, its competitive grants programs and general support of the land grant university and extension program first established by President Lincoln;
o Understanding and Balancing New Scientific and Agricultural Developments: For altering plants and animals to create products of biotechnology and transgenic animals, as well as for the fastest growing area of American agriculture – organic agriculture - will be critical; and;
o U.S. General Economy and Markets: Assistance with understanding the economic, price and market research that help keep a safe and dependable supply of food and beverages flowing to U.S. citizens as well as earning export dollars for our trade balance.
Our next Secretary of Agriculture needs to provide balance, relating closely to small farmers and family farmers, while serving as their advocate. At the same time, our next Secretary will need to deal fairly with production agriculture producers and corporate agriculture, while working to ensure accurate information reaches the commodity markets in an appropriate manner, and overall, representing U.S. interests at international negotiations on world trade agreements that impact the entire world’s environment.
USDA's Secretary must do all of this while working with the Deputy Secretary and the Agriculture Sub-Cabinet, i.e., the Under Secretaries of the seven mission areas of USDA, to administer over $100 billion allocated by the U.S. Congress and to manage more than 100,000 full-time federal employees of varying skills and training – for instance, the largest contingent of veterinarians working for a single entity in the world; Ph.D. scientists performing basic and applied research; dietitians working to improve the health of the U.S. population; and on-farm experts who can help farmers problem solve while growing everything from sesame seeds to soybeans and other major commodities to goats, cattle, hogs and chickens.
The United States and the World need a well informed, experienced individual with great interpersonal skills to work with everyone, including the smallest of local farmer/food producers to the diplomats of the developing world and the European Union. My Rural America hopes that President-Elect Obama will appoint such a person as Secretary for USDA. We urge you, a supporter of MRA, to keep these factors and qualifications in mind should you choose to endorse a candidate for Secretary of Agriculture for the United States. Our next Secretary of Agriculture must bring stature, experience and also a sense of compassion for all the people our great agriculture industry serves at home and abroad. Caren Wilcox -- Advisor to My Rural America
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