U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, addressed the American Seed Trade Association this morning during their 129th Annual Convention. I’ll have audio of his remarks posted here shortly.
The theme of the start of Sec. Vilsack’s comments is “you can’t have it without seed,” which ties right in with the theme of the convention, First-the Seed. He used this line along with quoting statistics about U.S. ag exports and jobs created in rural America for example. He was here to provide the group with his perspective on the political lay of the land. He says there are challenges that include recent years of flat budgets for agricultural research and competition for water resources. He also challenged ASTA’s members to spur innovation and redefine “rural economy.” He said, “What extraordinary power you have.”
Post Update:
Listen to Secretary Vilsack here: Sec. Vilsack ASTA Address