Release No. 0408.97 Remarks BY DEPUTY SECRETARY RICHARD ROMINGER U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CALIFORNIA COUNCIL ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, RIVERSIDE -- NOVEMBER 18, 1997 Thank you very much. It's truly an honor to be here. As a farmer and Californian, thanks for all you're doing for this great agricultural state. As a member of the Administration, I want you to know that we're listening in Washington. The policies coming out of the Council represent the best thinking by and for the nation's top agricultural producing and exporting state ... so we're paying attention. We appreciate your partnerships. We respect the mix of perspectives. Contemporary science holds answers that will take the bounty of agriculture and the safety of our food supply from the 20th to the 21st century. It will take them from lab to field to processing plant to table. It may not be Stephen Hawkings, examining black holes for clues to the beginning of the universe. It's better -- the science that holds clues to food security for one speck in that universe. For those of us who produce food and those of us who consume food, it's applied research at its best and the worthiest kind of mandate. We need the kind of stakeholder representation the Council brings to complex and open questions. We need your innovation. You're moving the nation closer to harnessing the powerful forces of science and technology to benefit all Americans. That's a goal President Clinton has set for the nation. We regard your approach as a model -- and thank you for that. I also want to thank you for this spot on your agenda. I may not hold your attention as Dr. Richard Zare did last winter, analyzing rock from Mars for signs of primitive life. USDA can't compete with Mars ... but we actually can come pretty close. As we speak, 24 satellites are orbiting in six paths around the Earth. They're the space-age half of a new technology that combines with computer wizardry to identify precise points in a field. Then it maps out that field like a mosaic. Last spring, there was a piece on the national news about California wineries using this kind of precision agriculture. John Moramarco [with Callaway Vineyards and Wineries] -- our after-dinner speaker -- you're probably familiar with wineries using satellite imaging to improve crops. This is a great example of a Nation turning its swords into plowshares. Much of the technology was originally developed for the military. Tractor-mounted computers and satellite connections measure yields. These high-tech tools identify variations -- like nitrogen, the pH level, yield. They anticipate fertilizer and pesticide needs within feet of the tractor's position. Precision agriculture helps producers apply the exact amount of chemicals they need, where it's needed, when it's needed. By the condition, not the calendar. By the foot, not the field. With precision agriculture, every farm, every field, every spot in the field becomes an experimental site. It moves science and environmental responsibility together, from the lab to the soil. It's a real-life example of G.K Chesterton's observation that, "The telescope makes the world smaller; it is only the microscope that makes it large." Agriculture as a whole is a lot like precision farming. The big picture looks great. We have every reason to brag, and I'll do my share in just a minute. But there are real problems and concerns inside that big picture that will affect our ability to enhance life -- even sustain life and the environment -- in the next century. INFLUENCES ON USDA RESEARCH PRIORITIES Not least among them are funding and policies that can constrain us or push us forward. They figure into the directions we take and influence the bounds and rate of our progress. In the case of precision agriculture, for example, we give only a modest amount to this research. But we conduct a tremendous amount of research in disciplines related to crop production and soil management. This work helps us understand and interpret the complex data coming in from satellite imaging. In the past year, several pieces of legislation have been introduced in Congress promoting precision agriculture as a USDA research priority. This legislation is part of the Senate version of the new Research Title of the Farm Bill before Congress, and it's one good reason we want to see it reauthorized. Congress, unfortunately, didn't pass the bill before it adjourned last Thursday. So for now, we're bound to continue under the previous authority. This is probably adequate for about 95 percent of the work we do. But it won't do justice to that critical 5 percent that represents Congress' fresh expectations and priorities for ag research. Congress reflects what stakeholders want. They're saying they want new ideas and programs. Some of these programs would affect the university, for example. Some would support a more formal process for stakeholder input, for peer review, and for prioritizing research goals. These are ideas whose time has come. They're the landmarks of federal research today -- tight budgets, targeting dollars spent, and a demand for more accountability. On the policy side, the agriculture community is looking more and more to technology to fill in where the government and market stabilization have left off. Producers ask a basic question: with government moving out the back door of income support, who's coming in the front? Where do we go from here? Who's there to help us in the riskier, market-oriented agriculture of the 21st century? Exports are booming. Agriculture has been hitting record highs in overseas sales, and reaching more foreign markets than ever before -- nearly $60 billion in 1996. American farm products are the leading positive contributor to the U.S. balance of trade. Not cars, not computers, not airplanes -- American agriculture is #1. We now have the most open markets of this century. And American agriculture is feeding those markets and clothing those people with goods valued at more than $1 billion every week. No state has a greater stake in these accomplishments than California. With only 3 percent of the nation's farmland, California's more than 250 crop and livestock commmodies lead the nation -- by far -- in agricultural exports, which increased to more than $7 billion last year. And no state has a greater stake in the hard questions: how do we maintain and expand this aggressive trade momentum? How do we meet our obligation and respond concientiously -- as citizens of the most abundant and blessed nation in the world -- to the crisis of hunger? And how do we achieve all of this without over-burdening our land, destroying our resources, and compromising our quality of life? ACHIEVING WORLD FOOD SECURITY Our research capabilities may not give us every answer, but they give us the tools and confidence to reflect deeply and with a sense of moral responsibility on these big questions. As we stand on the edge of a new millennium, perhaps the greatest challenge we face is one that's been with us for centuries. One in seven of the world's people suffer from hunger and malnutrition -- an estimated 800 million people in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and other parts of the globe -- including, sadly, the USA. USDA is holding national consultations on food security to lay the foundation for what we hope will be an unprecedented U.S. effort to target hunger wherever it occurs. We've set a goal of cutting in half the world's hungry and malnourished by the year 2015. As the world's most agriculturally abundant nation, we clearly have an obligation to lead. This Administration will not shy away from it. But this is a challenge that transcends federal commitment. We look to forums like this, councils like yours, and we depend on the promise and answers held by our research sector. BIOTECHNOLOGY Biotechnology is our greatest hope. It's like a stone skipped into a pond. The effects just keep on rippling out from the center. It dramatically increases crop yields. It uses less water and pesticides, offers greater nutritional value. And, in the process, there's less stress on fragile lands and forests. Over the next 25 years or so, global population will increase by more than two billion people. That's the equivalent of two more India's or three additional sub-Saharan Africa's. Without biotechnology, we will be forced to exploit highly erodible farm and forest land. This may meet short-term needs, but in the end our legacy to future generations would be a barren earth. Our challenge is to unite nature and science to achieve breakthroughs in agricultural productivity to feed a growing world. Publicly funded research has done a fine job: farm productivity's been growing at an annual rate of 1.8 percent over the past 45 years. But that won't cut it for the future. The world's growing too fast. Food biotechnology is already making its presence felt. It's filling consumer demand with high-quality, good-tasting food products produced in ways that are environmentally sustainable. And there's evidence all around that much of the public has at least a passing acquaintance with science. Take the example of the little boy whose mother took him to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Veterans Day. Puzzled, he turned to her and said: "Why don't they just check his DNA?" We've already got the first real-world applications of biotechnology in the agricultural production pipeline. About 15 percent of the 1997 soybean acreage was planted to herbicide-resistant soybeans from seed supplied by more than 70 companies. Twelve percent of all U.S. corn planted this year was genetically engineered for insect resistance. As a former farmer -- and I plan to return to California to farm one day -- I know this science makes a big difference in the way producers look at the bottom line and the future. Take my own family, for instance. My brother, sons, and nephews grow alfalfa, beans, corn, rice, safflower, sunflowers, tomatoes, and wheat in Yolo County -- near Winters. I thought of them when I attended the 10-year anniversary of the Plant Gene Expression Center in Albany last spring. They've got a stake in what's happening in Albany -- just as farmers around the country and globe do, and farmers one and two generations from now: * Genetic engineering of monocots -- corn ... * Large-scale genome sequencing ... * And identifying plant disease resistance genes ...isolating the "N" gene ... This gene is the joint discovery of USDA scientists and the University of California at Berkeley, working side-by-side in a truly unique research partnership. It may impact Third World countries in ways we can't fully project. With its capacity to protect against disease without the use of costly agri-chemicals, it may benefit both their environment and their economics. And there are many other pesticide-reducing examples coming along ... But with progress come caveats. We've got to be careful not to draw conclusions about bioengineered crops based on first-generation products, like Bt cotton, just now entering the market. It's the next generation we're watching for. We fully expect the second generation, building on the first, to be more pest resistant. That's when we'll confirm the long-term sustainability of engineered pest resistance. Then crop bioengineering will step forward as a full partner in environmentally-friendly production. And with progress comes skepticism, much of it healthy and questioning. We've got to keep the public tuned in to our progress. Otherwise, there's too much room for misunderstanding ... like the sixth-grade student asked to define genetics. Genetics, he said, explains why you look like your father, and if you don't, why you should. We know that genetically engineered crops have undergone rigorous testing and proven safe. It's the obligation of government to seek answers and ensure safety. When we say a product is safe, it's because our scientists have proven it's safe. That's our standard in the U.S. It's tough and we'll never compromise serious scientific review. But once we've addressed safety as a matter of policy, it seems to me -- as a matter of conscience -- that we can't let people go hungry when they don't have to ... when they can eat products as safe as any traditional hybrid. As former President Jimmy Carter put it, "Responsible biotechnology is not the enemy; starvation is." Responsible science is a tool that offers enormous potential to go beyond traditional plant breeding. In the process, it will help fulfill our commitments to world hunger and preserving our fragile environment. I want to take just a few minutes to recognize some of USDA's environmental initiatives. ENVIRONMENTAL WORK At the Earth Summit at the United Nations in June, President Mugabe of Zimbabwe used one of the best terms I've heard to describe our shared responsibility for the environment. He called it a "global commons." He stressed with no little frustration that "the developed countries have an environmental debt' to pay." On the issue of global climate change, President Clinton has acknowledged the problem and assumed the debt. "With 4 percent of the world's population," he said, " we already produce more than 20 percent of its greenhouse gases... We must do better, and we will." The President proposes a $5 billion program of tax cuts and research and development for new technologies to spur energy efficiency. The plan includes participation by developing countries, but not on the same schedule as developed countries. Developed countries are responsible for most of the greenhouse gas buildup to date, with the U.S. the largest contributor. But developing countries will close the gap in a few years, so they must be part of the solution. Here in the U.S., and especially in California, there's wide public concern over agriculture's role in degrading ground and surface water.USDA works to develop technologies and management practices that are cost-effective and will protect water quality. Our Fresno Water Management Research Lab is a world leader in micro-irrigation technology that helps farmers apply irrigation more uniformly and efficiently. This, in turn, can mean greater yields, lower irrigation costs, less environmental damage ... and a more satisfied public. In the future, our ARS researchers might have a role in studying agricultural water management relating to problems in the Salton Sea, which is a crucial landing area on the great Pacific Flyway. In 1994, USDA set a goal of getting Integrated Pest Management in place on 75 percent of the nation's farmland by the year 2000. We're carrying out a broad program of research to meet needs identified by state and regional IPM teams. We're making solid progress generating pest management technologies for the nation's IPM systems, and plan to expand as funding becomes available. Wherever possible, we enter research and development agreements with the private sector so that advances in science also mean advances for small businesses and their communities. New uses for agricultural products -- and new approaches to waste products -- are key to our rural development strategy. In the heyday of the Chicago Stockyards, Gustavus Franklin Swift was known to brag that, "We use all of the hog except his grunt." I think we can do a little bragging along those lines ourselves. Through the Alternative Agricultural Research and Commercialization Corporation, we're commercializing bio-based industrial products from agricultural materials and animal by-products. With lean budgets, this is a great example of the way to go -- public-private partnerships and adding value to what's already there. We've invested in Gridcore Systems International, for example. This California company is turning valuable waste fibers into a strong, lightweight, non-toxic honeycomb panel. Gridcore has contracted with the U.S. Postal Service to build 5,000 trash cans to hold undeliverable bulk mail. Then Gridcore will pulp that mail to make more receptacles. Talk about return to sender! Not to mention -- no toxic resins, energy efficient, and pollution free. The great inventor, Thomas Edison, would have been impressed. They say that whenever he guided visitors around the displays of gadgets that filled his home, someone would always ask, "With everything here so modern and innovative, why do your visitors still have to push their way in through that old-fashioned turnstile?" And Edison would laugh with delight and say, "Because, my friend, every single soul who forces his way through that old turnstile pumps three gallons of water up from my well and into my water tank." Vision can accommodate practicality. No aspect of agriculture combines the two more than our science and research sectors. Hunger, food security, land, water, air -- as basic as you can get. And as important. We need your vision, your ingenuity, and your thinking for the state of California, the nation, and the future. Thank you. # NOTE: USDA news releases and media advisories are available on the Internet. Access the USDA Home Page on the World Wide Web at http://www.usda.gov