President Barack Obama today announced his choice of Kathleen Merrigan as deputy secretary of the Agriculture Department. Merrigan is no stranger to USDA, having served as administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service under President Clinton from 1999 to 2001. She is currently Assistant Professor and Director of the Agriculture, Food and Environment MS and PhD Program at the Friedman School …
2007 Census of Agriculture Release Day
This is the big day for all you agriculture statistics fanatics. USDA will be releasing the 2007 Census of Agriculture. Yep. Old data. The Census of Agriculture, taken every five years, is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. The Census looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and …
Secretary Vilsack First Teleconference
Our new U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, just held his first teleconference and I’ve got it recorded for you. He makes a short opening statement then takes Q&A from select media who could ask questions (I was not one of them). I was interested in things like biofuels and rural development of broadband internet access. Both are mentioned several …
Change Coming to USDA
Just a few hours after Barack Obama took the oath of President of the United States, the U.S. Senate confirmed seven of his cabinet appointees, including Tom Vilsack as Secretary of Agriculture. But, don’t look for an update on the USDA website just yet. Unlike the new whitehouse.gov website, which went live at 12:01 eastern yesterday, the USDA website has …
USDA Closes Broadband Loan Agreement
Let’s hope we see continued commitment to rural development in the new administration in Washington, DC. The outgoing one has sure done a lot in this area, especially to develop broadband which is providing new opportunities in our rural and farm communities. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer announced today that Open Range Communications has finalized a $267 million loan agreement with …
Administration Achievements and IFAJ 2009/AMS Update
U. S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer held a conference call with reporters to discuss accomplishments of the Bush administration. We were on the call and I thought I’d share a segment with you in this week’s program. I’ve been pointing out the increased investment in rural broadband through the Rural Development department here on AgWired since we got started …
Obama Announces Vilsack and Salazar
Thanks to AP we can see President-Elect Obama’s announcement of Tom Vilsack for Ag Secretary and Ken Salazar as Interior Secretary. I have to ask the question, “Why does every ag group out there feel compelled to send out news releases with their thoughts on the matter?” They all say the same thing (exicted about . . . looking forward …
Secretary Schafer at Cellulosic Summit
This may have been the last time I will have the chance to interview the current Secretary of Agriculture – I think this is about the 10th secretary I have been able to report on during my career in ag communications! Anyway – Secretary Schafer was here at the Cellulosic Ethanol Summit in south Florida Wednesday and had a small …
USDA Podcasting Newslines
I knew it was only a matter of time before USDA’s Office of Communications started podcasting their news feeds. I’ve discussed it with them several times since it makes it so much easier for farm podcasters to get them. It also opens the door to farmers who can now directly subscribe to USDA’s news! That’s as it should be since …
Dorr Resigns from USDA
We’ve seen USDA Under Secretary Tom Dorr so many times in the past year or so at so many events that we have gotten to know him pretty well. But, now he is moving on and out of USDA. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer today announced the resignation, effective December 1, 2008, of Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Thomas …