Water Education Foundation
This is just one post in the Agriculture Category
Click here to view all posts

Vilsack commentary: Vilsack: Rural America is in need of renewal

Posted by: Maven on January 31, 2010 at 7:30 am

From the Des Moines Register:

“After a year as the U.S. secretary of agriculture, I’ve reached two conclusions: Most Americans do not fully appreciate the work and sacrifice of the farmers and ranchers who produce the food and fiber that keeps all of us alive, and an overhaul of our approach to economic development in rural America is long overdue.

Last year, America lost one of its great heroes when Norman Borlaug passed away. I felt honored to be asked to give one of the eulogies for him at a remembrance held at Texas A&M. My remarks focused on his early life, and how the nature of farming in the early 20th century profoundly influenced him. Borlaug grew up with subsistence farming in America. If crops did not produce, families did not eat. That experience drove him to find ways to increase crop production so hunger could be eradicated.

Appreciate America’s farmers

Some do go hungry today in America, but not because farmers and ranchers fail to produce enough. During my lifetime we witnessed a historic increase in agricultural production in this country. Few of us fully appreciate the extent of productivity gains in agriculture, which outstripped the productivity gains in most other sectors of our economy. … “

Read more from the Des Moines Register by clicking here.

January 31, 2010 · Filed Under Agriculture

Comments

Leave a Reply