Rob:  American agriculture is big business.  And few areas have gone under more of a dramatic change than farming communities where agriculture is based.  Which is why, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak, attracted a standing room only crowd in El Reno, Oklahoma, as part of the Obama administration's rural tour
to promote just some of the three billion dollars of stimulus package money being spent here in the state.
Tom:  I can tell you that in the state of Oklahoma we've already invested about 278 million dollars just from USDA.
Rob:  Which is why the federal government's top person in agriculture visited the state to talk to both farmers and consumers.
Tom:  So it is not just help and assistance for families, but it is also very importantly an economic stimulus.
Rob:  Vilsak highlighted successes like investments here in flood control and rural development, as well as challenges we still face.
Tom:  Despite the difficulties, despite the challenges, I'm optimistic about the future.
Rob:  Vilsak and others in the president's cabinet have been traveling the country looking at a variety of investments made under the stimulus package to help rural America connect to a global economy.
Tom:  So I think there are going to be offset opportunities.  The extent of offset opportunities as the bill currently is crafted, is somewhere in the neighborhood of ten to twenty billion dollars; twenty billion on the high side, ten billion on the low side.  There are other studies that actually have higher numbers, but our study was ten to twenty billion dollars.  So I think there are real opportunities here.  Now I understand there's angst about this, and concern about it, and I think that there is, I think those that express some angst are not recognizing the current world isn't just going to remain static.  There is constant innovation, constant change, constant challenging.  One of the reasons, initial reason I'm here today is to talk to a seasoned metro capitol activity that is taking place here in Oklahoma, and these are people who are investing in that innovation; and they obviously believe in it, because they are willing to put millions of dollars into this new innovation.  So I think at the end of the day, as we adapt, as we embrace innovation, I think it's going to be a good thing for agriculture; but it will be difficult to convince people of that.
Rob:  Chief of those Oklahoma Congressman Frank Lucas, the ranking republican on the U.S. House Agriculture Committee.  Lucas has routinely criticized the Obama administration's stimulus spending saying while he believes many of the rural investment projects are worthy, he also believes it's unwise to borrow and spend our way back to a healthy economy.
Rob:  Well, after the town hall meeting, I sat down with U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsak and asked him why such investments in rural America are so needed.
Tom:  Well I think there are four cornerstones that I have not seen in all the times I've been involved in economic development in rural communities.  First and foremost, there's the expansion of broadband as the result of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act, expanding local markets for businesses that have services and products to global markets.  Secondly, there is the energy tunnel, the farm bill that creates tremendous opportunity for us to use products that we grow, waste products, converting it into fuel which allows us to sever our reliance on foreign oil, creating wealth in communities here in America as opposed to someplace else.  Third, there's a Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food Program, which we just started rolling at USDA which is designed to better link local production with local consumers, institutional consumers, creating a supply chain, a smaller supply chain that will really give farmers and ranchers additional markets and create jobs in rural communities.  And then finally there is the discussion that climate change is taking place now and the capacity of the offset portion of that discussion to generate potentially tens of billions of dollars of additional revenue in rural communities; new jobs, new opportunities for farmers and ranchers.  It is a tremendously bright future I haven't seen in the time I've been involved in economic development as a mayor, as a state senator, as a governor, now as a secretary.
Rob:  With as much change as we're seeing, there is some anxiety in rural America, especially with some of the climate change legislation.  Do you feel that is something that actually in the long run will benefit rural America?
Tom:  Well I think it is and I think the president has basically put in place these four cornerstones and I think he understands and appreciates the importance of climate change.  We recognize the angst, we know that change is difficult, but the climate is changing and it will impact if we don't respond aggressively.  It will impact agriculture and we think, in a negative way.  We also have done an evaluation at USDA about the positive benefits and the negatives of climate change for farmers and ranchers in this country, and our conclusion was that it is indeed a net winner for farmers and ranchers because they can structure the way they use their land, the way they apply fertilizer, when they apply fertilizer, how they raise livestock, how they capture methane for example, how they feed their livestock to reduce methane, all those things and many many more will qualify for offsets; allowing farmers to generate more revenue which will help the bottom line and help them sustain rural communities.
Rob:  In terms of economic development, in recent years we've seen a lot of technology developments that's made farming less people intensive, but we're still trying to keep our rural areas alive and prospering.  How do we do that in the twenty first century?
Tom:  Well, this local production, local consumption, know your farmer, know your food, is part of that.  We saw a hundred and eight thousand new small farming operations start in the last five years in America in rural communities.  So that's the good news.  I mean there are people who are still interested in that entrepreneurial opportunity, no matter how difficult and challenging it is, and they're starting small, so we need to figure out ways in which we can provide markets for those small producers so that they transition into mid-income sized producers.  That's how you do it.  For the medium-sized, and mid-income sized operations that we've seen a decrease in, we need to figure out additional strategies for them and that's where energy offsets conservation programs come into play.  And then for the larger production agriculture it's continued aggressive efforts in exports.  We have a trade surplus there, that brings wealth into the community and we need to continue to do that.
Rob:  Mr. Secretary, thank you for your insites.
Tom:  You bet.  Thank you.
??

??

??

??