AgWired

On a day when he moderated a conversation between seven former Secretaries of Agriculture, speculation swirled that former Rep. Charlie Stenholm would be the next person to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Stenholm’s primary role was to ask questions of the six who attended in person and one who appeared by video at the Farm Foundation’s Food and Agriculture Summit in Washington, D.C. today.

Afterwards, I turned the tables on him by getting in a few questions of my own, including whether he was being considered to serve in Pres.-elect Barack Obama’s Cabinet.

“I’ve heard the same rumors you’ve heard. I’m quite honored that so many people believe I would be qualified for that job, but, no, I have not had any conversations with any of the people making that decision.”

But Stenholm did not rule out the possibility he would serve as Ag Secretary should Obama ask.

“I’m not running for it, [but] obviously if the President of the United States called and said ‘Charlie I’ve looked at your record of 26 years on the House Ag Committee and I believe you’re the man to serve me’ it would be very hard, in fact, impossible, to say no.”

Stenholm says he is looking forward to working with whomever the next chief of USDA would be.

You can hear my entire conversation with Stenholm, including his comments on the importance of the forum held today, by clicking here: Stenholm1.mp3

Download the audio here. (mp3)

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)

Six former U.S. Secretaries of Agriculture… John Block under Pres. Ronald Reagan, Clayton Yeutter under the first Pres. George Bush, Michael Espy and Dan Glickman for Pres. Bill Clinton, and Ann Veneman and Michael Johanns under the second Pres. George (W.) Bush… and one on video… Robert Bergland for Pres. Jimmy Carter… are on the diais today in Washington, D.C., discussing the future of agriculture as the Farm Foundation is hosting The Food and Agriculture Policy Summit.

As I post this, the conversation has just started, moderated by former Rep. Charlie Stenholm and Farm Journal’s Roger Bernard.  The first question out of the gate is what advice would these former secretaries suggest to the next Ag Secretary.

Block suggested that the next secretary should put together a team quickly to hit the ground running.  Glickman stressed the need to meet the employees at USDA and make sure to make contact with the key members of Congress.  Espy said, in light of the current economic conditions, the next secretary will need to do more with less.  Yeutter pointed out the importance that energy will play in the future.  Veneman and Johanns talked about how this country’s export policies are key to agriculture and how the next secretary will need to make sure our trade policies are beneficial to American agriculture.

I’ll have audio to post a little later as they are still talking.  Fascinating conversation and I promise to have more a little later.

Farm Foundation and Farm Journal Media are co-hosting a big event in Washington DC this week. The Food and Agriculture Policy Summit features three days of programs focused on the wide range of domestic and global issues facing the food system and agriculture today.

“For a number of years, Farm Journal has sponsored an annual policy forum in Washington DC and this year we decided to join forces,” said Farm Foundation president Neil Conklin.

The policy summit actually kicks off today with the Farm Journal Forum on “What Will Change Bring? Impacts of a New Congress and Administration in the New Era of Agriculture” which continues through Wednesday.

Wednesday afternoon will be a joint event between both Farm Journal and Farm Foundation – “A Conversation with the Secretaries. “We’ve invited all nine of the living past Secretaries of Agriculture to participate in a conversation to talk about what advice they might give a new secretary of agriculture and just what their perspectives are on the challenges we face today,” said Conklin. (Pop quiz – can you name them all? Here is the answer)

On Thursday, Farm Foundation examines long-range policy options in the conference: “Agriculture and Food Policy: A Strategic Approach.” This conference examines the challenges for food and agricultural policy to feed a growing world over the next 30 years.

John Davis will be providing coverage of this event on both AgWired and DomesticFuel.

Listen to my interview with Neil about the event here: summit-conklin.mp3