Tuesday was a busy day for Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

He started the day by attending the National Agriculture Statistics Service lock up briefing prior to the prospective plantings report release first thing in the morning.

Then, he testified before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture about the Administration’s plans to bring reform to USDA and discussed how the President’s budget will revitalize rural America. During his testimony, the secretary used the opportunity to make three announcements of actions being taken to help producers struggling with the recent downturn in commodity prices.

Vilsack announced that: 1) USDA will begin making Milk Income Loss Contract payments (MILC) to dairy producers; 2) USDA will be spending $117 million to make bonus purchases of walnuts, pork, turkey, and lamb; and 3) USDA is extending the sign-up deadline for the new ACRE program to August 14.

Then, yesterday afternoon, Vilsack held a telephone press conference with reporters where he answered questions on a number of topics. After that, not sure what he did – but it definitely was a full day. Agriculture secretary is no job for slackers!

Listen to Vilsack’s opening statement here: vilsack-announcements.mp3