VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY CROP FIELD DAY Release No.0290.97 REMARKS OF SECRETARY DAN GLICKMAN VIRGINIA STATE UNIVERSITY CROP FIELD DAY PETERSBURG, VA -- AUGUST 26, 1997 Thank you, Dr.[Eddie] Moore [President, Virginia State]. I'd like to thank you and Dean Lyons for the wonderful leadership you give this great university and American agriculture. I'd also like to thank my tour guide through today's exhibits -- Chandra Holifield. Chandra is one of nine 1890s scholars whom USDA is currently sponsoring at Virginia State. Let me just say: I wouldn't want to go toe-to-toe with her on plant and soil sciences anytime soon. ... But it was a good, informative tour. I've caught a glimpse of the future of agriculture here today, and let me tell you: I like what I see. I see our farmers and universities continuing a partnership that has helped make our country the world leader in agriculture. I see great attention being paid to conservation -- a recognition that we must protect the land that feeds us, and pass on an ever-abundant earth to future generations of farmers. And, I see a particular focus on ensuring that agriculture's innovations work for small farms. That's important to me, to President Clinton, and to Virginia where 85% of farmers work small-scale operations. I know I share these priorities with Congressmen Sisisky and Scott. I thank them for their support of agriculture in Congress, and their support of this great agricultural university. We've got some big fans of Virginia State at USDA, as well. Lloyd, could you wave your hand? Lloyd Wright is the Director of USDA's Office of Civil Rights. He's also a Virginia State alum ... class of 64 ... or is that 94? Sorry, Lloyd, that must be a typo. Lloyd majored in agronomy, and actually worked here on Randolph Farm doing plant research ... something about warm and cool season grasses that could provide year-round forage for livestock and at the same time prevent soil erosion. Lloyd tells me that was back in the days when the food grown here actually made its way to the cafeteria. I don't pretend to be an expert when it comes to the details of the next generation of agricultural practices. But I do know it's critical that farms evolve, that our nation invest in our ability to produce more food -- safely and sustainably. I also know there's a critical role for government in supporting this research, in supporting universities, like Virginia State, that are on the cutting edge, and in supporting extension efforts that move innovations quickly from the labs to the fields. That's what field days are all about -- bringing together the government ag folks, the university folks, the researchers, the farmers and ranchers -- letting us all see what's out there on the horizon, and making sure that we all step forward together. You know, if you look back at agriculture's history: Whether it's Eli Whitney and his cotton gin, George Washington Carver and his work on peanuts and sweet potatoes, the plow's transformation of the Great American Desert' into America's heartland, or the Green Revolution -- the quantum leap in production that allowed us to feed more people than we could have imagined just a few years before. ... All these milestones represent agriculture adopting the work of one or a handful of great minds and rising up to meet and surpass seemingly insurmountable odds -- emerging stronger than ever, more abundant than ever. Throughout our history, the productive capacity of our land and our farmers has been critical to our nation's success. In fact, we've been so successful that one problem we face today is that many in urban and suburban America take our agricultural abundance as a given. But everyone here knows there's precious little that can be taken for granted: Mother Nature's notoriously fickle, and the markets -- while strong now -- are no Rock of Gibraltar. Agriculture is risk. It reminds me of the old joke about the stranger who stops to talk to a farmer: How's your wheat coming?' he asks. Didn't plant any,' the farmer replies. Really? I thought this was good wheat country.' Afraid it wouldn't rain.' Well, how's your corn crop?' Don't have one.' Didn't plant any corn either?' Afraid of corn blight.' Well, what did you plant.' Nothing,' says the farmer. I decided to play it safe.' There is no playing it safe in agriculture. There's only playing it smart. That means several things. It means having a good business head. Increasingly, it means diversifying your crop base, spreading out risk, so you're not subject to the whims of 1 market. USDA has a tremendous partnership with Virginia State in terms of helping limited resource farmers diversify their crops, and bring some stability and upward momentum to their bottom line. We're working together over in Northhampton County to help small, limited-resource farmers expand beyond corn, wheat, soybeans and potatoes to high-value organic vegetables and fresh-cut flowers. We're also looking at agri-tourism opportunities there. Over in Suffolk, Virginia State and USDA folks are helping connect farm cooperators with the byproducts of a nearby cotton gin and peanut processing plant that the farmers use as low-cost alternatives to chemical fertilizers. Both of these are part of USDA's Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program. USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service is also a partner in the wetlands demonstration that's on display today. Conservation is critical to the staying power of agriculture and our world. America learned its lesson back in the 30s. I'm from Kansas, and if you go back and read the newspaper accounts of the Dust Bowl, folks said they could actually hear the ground cracking. It was an ominous warning: We can push the earth beyond her generous limits. We must choose not to. We must, as the Native Americans say, tread lightly on the land.' That's no easy task considering the demands facing agriculture in the years ahead. In the coming century, the global population is expected to grow at the rate of a New York City every month. How can we feed all those people? How can we do it in a way that allows future farmers to inherit an abundant earth? Well, we have high-tech advances from precision agriculture to genetically modified seeds that allow us to produce more crops, using less water, less pesticides, and in the case of biotechnology, adding more nutrients. We have strong federal conservation programs. 1996 was a watershed year. We won an historic investment in the health of America's agricultural lands. We got a new Conservation Reserve Program -- one that focuses on preventing erosion and protecting water quality and wildlife habitat by paying farmers to retire environmentally sensitive land. We got the Environmental Quality Incentives Program which helps producers finance their conservation practices, and for the first time lets government help ranchers do the right thing for our land and water. Our conservation programs can be put to better use helping small-scale producers. That's something we're taking a hard look at right now. It's something we've got to remember: If we want our conservation efforts to work, we do need practices that work for the big operations -- that tend to be more high-tech and expensive. But we've also got to offer small farmers less-expensive ways to be a part of the solution, too. We see that in all the projects here today. And, thanks to the work of Virginia State, Virginia Cooperative Extension and others, we're seeing these practices catch on across the country. I'll give you just one story: South Carolina dairy farmer, Tom Trantham. He calls his farm 12 Aprils because -- with a USDA grant and the help of local researchers -- he's working on a rotational grazing system that will give him quality, year-round forage -- like it's April every month. Tom started his dairy from scratch in 1978. In the 80s, before the big switch, Tom had one of the top producing herds in the state. He grew his own silage, worked 16-hour days... and was near broke. Finally, in 85 he was turned down for a farm loan. He sent his cows to pasture, got his loan the following Spring, and soon after discovered the huge production boost that went along with the April grazing. That's when the light bulb went on in his head. Today, he saves about 50-cents per head of cattle per day. He's retired $150,000 worth of silage equipment. Without the silage and by using manure as fertilizer, he's cut back on his input costs by 30%. Vet bills are next to nothing. He's working 10-hour days which, in Tom's words, mean: "I almost feel like I'm on vacation." When I think about the future of agriculture -- especially the dairy industry which is having such a rough time -- I like to think that Tom's on to something. That's why I asked him to join the National Commission on Small Farms, where Tom now sits alongside Virginia State's own Gladys Holland, an extension specialist here. We've also got a Virginia farmer, Ernest Blount from Elberon on the Commission. He grows peanuts, soybeans and wheat over in Surrey County where he serves on the farmer's market board and the board of the local co-op. These 3 are a good sampling of the kinds of people we have working on this project -- top-notch university folks, small-scale farmers whose conservation practices are paying off and who have experience with marketing techniques that can help small farms not just survive, but thrive. I know I've been asked to talk about sustainability. This is a critical part. We've got to do more to protect the land ... more to make sure that farmers and ranchers -- big and small -- have the opportunity to adopt conservation practices that work for them. But besides sustaining the land, we've got to be able to sustain our farmers, as well. The biggest hurdle, obviously, is economic. For decades now, agriculture -- like every other major sector of our economy: banking, health care, transportation -- has been concentrating into fewer and larger operations. On the one hand, this means agriculture's becoming more efficient and competitive. But on the other hand, your average person is having a harder time living the rural American dream -- earning a decent life for themselves and their families from the land. We need to find a way to shake hands -- for big and small farms to peacefully coexist. By helping small farmers adopt sustainable practices that don't just fit their budgets, but boost them ... by promoting efforts -- be they direct marketing, co-ops, niche markets -- that help small farmers keep more of the full value of their labor, I believe we can save the small farm. Some folks shake their heads and say it's too late. But I've talked to enough small farmers who are still kicking, who work hard every day to try and stay on the land. They're ready to fight to keep their way of life, and this Administration is not going to turn its back on them. I've asked the commission to have on my desk by Sept. 30 a national strategy to save the small farm. I look forward to acting on it, and I ask all of you to help me highlight the importance of this issue to every American. This is one way we can help young people see a future for themselves on the farm. Without that, there isn't going to be much of a future for this nation. Small farms are an important part of our heritage. They are a vibrant part of our rural communities. How we handle their decline is an important test of America's values headed into the big, new economy of the 21st century. So is how we handle civil rights. We're losing minority-owned farms at 3 times the rate of farm losses nationwide. That tells me USDA's got to try 3 times harder -- working with 1890s schools, with community leaders, in every way we can to stop this trend. I wish I could pin the blame on broad economic factors and bad weather. I'm sure they play some part, but no more than the abysmal manner in which USDA has too often conducted itself. You will never hear me make excuses for this past. There are none. I will just tell you that I've listened to the complaints, many highly persuasive ones coming from right here in Virginia. We will reach a new day on my watch as Secretary. We're already well on our way: I've made it a condition of employment that every USDA employee treat every customer and co-worker fairly and equitably, with dignity and respect. I've put in place a strict policy that freezes a foreclosure -- wherever it is in the process -- once a civil rights complaint is filed. This way an independent panel can review the merits of the action before the foreclosure proceeds. This is 1997. I simply will not tolerate anyone losing their land to discrimination. I've also made it clear that filing a civil rights complaint should not prevent a farmer from getting a loan. If the dispute is with the loan officer, then another officer will handle the paperwork. If the loan's denied, there's a meeting and a written letter of explanation. We're also introducing legislation to eliminate the one-strike-you're-out' farm credit revision which was a bad idea from the start. It basically says that if you had a debt write-down, you can never again get a USDA loan. You and I both know that plenty of good people lost their shirt in the 80s (and in the 90s). We need to keep some notion of redemption in our farm credit policies -- one that's fair to farmers and to taxpayers. And, we're working to beef-up accountability. A respect for the basic human rights of our employees and customers is now a top criteria for evaluating USDA managers. It's as important as their performance on any program. We're also working on legislation to ensure that field staff -- no matter where they are in the country -- are held equally accountable to the same high national civil rights standard that is the law of the land. These are just a few of the things we're doing. I've talked to President Clinton about this. He's 100% behind our efforts. I promised him that civil rights would be my legacy at USDA. I make that same promise to all of you today. I intend to have USDA emerge in the dawn of the next century as the federal civil rights leader. You know, USDA is as old as the Emancipation Proclamation itself. We've been around since 1862. Usually that impresses folks. But we don't have much history on Virginia State. You've been here since 1882. This is America's first fully state supported 4-year institution of higher learning for Blacks. The promotion of knowledgeable, perceptive, and humane citizens ... committed to assuming productive roles in a challenging and ever-changing global society' -- is your mission. It is a worthy pursuit for agriculture and our nation. There is a long, proud history of progress here. But based on what I've seen today and on USDA's ongoing work with this fine university, I have no doubt that some of your greatest chapters have yet to be written. Thank you all for inviting me here today, and for the work you do every day in support of agriculture, our nation and the world. 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