U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ed Schafer has just finished addressing the folks attending the latest Farm Foundation’s Transition to a Bioeconomy Conference going on in St. Louis, Mo.
Schafer reminded the crowd how hard the current administration has worked to promote the biofuels field in this country, and thus, how hard it had worked to help the farmers who are either directly or indirectly tied to this change to a bioeconomy.
He said that now, more than ever, we need to keep exploring new technologies and new ideas to secure our energy independence and in turn, our national security. Schafer added that ethanol and biodiesel, as well as other renewable energy sources such as wind and solar, will be key to that energy security and independence.
I’ll have some more audio from Schafer’s address to the Farm Foundation, but for now, let me give you a little bit of what he told reporters who caught him for just a few minutes before he had to head out.
I asked him about the importance of a meeting such as this, where diverse opinions are brought together to come up with a consensus as to what might be the best direction to go.
“These conferences are very important because what you get is that diverse viewpoint. And when you’re challenging one another, you end up picking up the good pieces and forging good public policy and direction.”
He added that this isn’t solely a price issue or an environmental issue or an economics issue… all must be looked at for a biofuel policy for America.
Listen to Schafer’s comment here: Schafer1.mp3
Here are a couple of ladies who are World Food Prize winners in my book. They are Victoria Carver (left) with the Iowa Soybean Association who serves on the recently created 
The 2008 
Several soybean groups – including the United Soybean Board, Iowa Soybean Association, Soy Foods Council, WISHH, and 
Appropriately, the event today is held on World Food Day, and the World Soy Foundation was able to announce a new donation by Silk soy milk, a WhiteWave Foods brand, according to foundation director Jim Hershey. “
I only got to go out in the field for the cotton picking demonstration at Sunbelt Ag Expo but it was great. The weather was beautiful and the cotton looked awesome. I’ve got a number of pictures in the photo album.
There’s no question that if you grill food you’re going to attract a crowd. That’s what Joel Garrett, Garrett Grills, is doing for his second year at the 
The President of the 
One of the participants in the 2008 World Food Prize symposium who caught my eye yesterday was Dr. Gale Buchanan, USDA Under Secretary for Research Education and Economics. I saw him sitting in on every session I attended, so I caught up with him for an interview about the event and what he thought. 
This year’s World Food Prize winners are former Senators Bob Dole and George McGovern, who are being honored for their work to expand USDA’s school feeding program. Dr. Buchanan says it is nice to see USDA’s program recognized for its world feeding efforts. “The department has a vital role to play in addressing these issues,” Buchanan said. “The focus of this conference is not looking inward but looking outward to every country around the world.”
Today is World Food Day in case you didn’t know it. This is a FAO-organized event held every year. I applaud their desire to bring attention to the plight of the hungry around the world.