The heads of both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Environmental Protection Agency spoke to the National Farmers Union (NFU) convention in Wichita Monday.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced $97 million in programs to support the continued development of farmers markets, farm to school efforts and rural economies and will also expand risk management tools for specialty crops and limited-resource farmers. “Increasing market opportunities for local food producers is a sound investment in America’s rural economies, while also increasing access to healthy food for our nation’s families,” said Vilsack.

Vilsack stressed his continued support for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). “We need to make sure Congress doesn’t do anything to damage it or repeal it or make it difficult to use. We need to be advocates, spokespeople for this industry. We need to go out and tell folks this is the right thing to do,” he said.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy admitted that her agency was “in the hot seat” over both the RFS and the Waters of the United States proposal released last year.

“I really wish we had done a better job of rolling out the clean water rule,” she said, adding that she was concerned they “weren’t crystal clear not only about what we intended to do but also what we weren’t intending to do.”

On the subject of ditches, she said that EPA needs to make the definitions clearer. “Most farm ditches were never covered before, and they won’t be in this new rule,” she promised.

Listen to McCarthy’s speech here, courtesy of Ken Rahjes, AgView.net. EPA Chief Gina McCarthy at 2015 NFU Convention