It was a pretty historic meeting this afternoon at the Farm Foundations’ Food and Agriculture Policy Summit in Washington, D.C. as six former Secretaries of Agriculture shared the stage and another joined by videotape.

This truly bipartisan meeting of the minds was moderated by Farm Journal’s Roger Bernard and former Rep. Charlie Stenholm (who is rumored to be on the short list to be the next Ag Secretary… more on that later).

As I mentioned in a previous post, these former secretaries offered the next ag secretary some great advice that ranged from making sure you have the right team together right away to how important international relations are to the USDA and the U.S. in general.

The rest of the conversation, obviously with the start of a new administration just more than a month away, also focused on what would face the next ag secretary and Pres. Barack Obama.  Fuel was a big part of the conversation… from the perspective of the roller-coaster ride prices have been on in the last few months and from the perspective of how agriculture will contribute to the nation’s energy supply in the form of biodiesel and ethanol.

Those on the stage… and on the video… debated the current structure of USDA with Block pointing out that the next Farm Bill is more than just a bill for farming, as it will contain provisions on forestry and nutrition.  Block even suggested that the USDA be renamed the Department of Food, Agriculture and Forestry to highlight the diverse nature of the Ag Department.

As I said, there was some great conversation in this truly unique forum.  But I think the line of the day has to go to Espy who said: “Within the population of the US, only 2 percent are farmers.  But 100 percent are eaters.”  He was pointing out the importance of food safety.  But I think he was also making the point how dependent all of us are on those few who plow the fields and pick the fruits and vegetables we eat.

You can hear the entire 95 minutes (I know, a bit long but worth the listen) by clicking here: Sec of Ag Forum.mp3

Download the audio here. (mp3)