Farm Notes: Rural Innovations and Realities by Fletcher Hall

Recently, I attended an event sponsored by the United States Chamber of Commerce, in Washington, D.C.

The title of this event was “Agriculture, Growing Innovation and Opportunities”. The principal speakers were U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak, and Gregory Page, Chairman and CEO of Cargill.

There has been quite a transformation occurring in rural America and in production farming. For instance there has been an 87 per cent increase in Farmers Markets since 2008. There are now over 200 food hubs across the country that allow an aggregation of locally produced items, making it easier for an institutional purchaser such as a hospital, a university, a school or a prison to be able to purchase locally grown products.

The connection between the farmer and the consumer is important because too few Americans today understand agriculture and our food supply system. Also, there are rapidly diminishing numbers of members of Congress that have any real working of agricultural issues and farm practices..

When the Department of Agriculture was established by President Abraham Lincoln, 97 per cent of the population was rural based. In those days most people knew factually what agriculture was about.

However, today that is not the case. Even when using the most liberal definition of farmer, as used by the USDA, “anyone who sells over a thousand dollars worth of product is considered a farmer. This sure sounds like a pretty liberal definition to me. Today 2.3 million people fall under that definition, less than one percent of the U.S. population. Less than one percent of the current U. S. population produces 75 to 80 percent of what we consume and vast quantities of what the U.S. exports.

These facts tell quite a story. Many people in America, today, do not fully understand agriculture and its importance to our economy and way of life.

The United States is a food secure nation. Agriculture is part of our national security and any nation which can feed itself is a stronger nation. In the world today almost all other nations are dependent on other nations to provide large parts of their food supply Today, direct to consumer sales opportunities, a multi-million endeavor, is developing as rapidly as many other components of U. S. Agriculture.

These facts and marketing trends lead me to wonder if there can be a renaissance of the produce (truck crop) industry on the Eastern Shore.

In spite of the innovations, growing domestic economic importance of agriculture and record export trends, the United States does not have a new farm bill. And, there are many doubts we will have one this year, and the new Congress’s actions will be anyone’s guess.

There is also a need for a common sense, workable immigration bill to pass Congress. That has not happened yet. The immigration influx, especially from Mexico, has diminished significantly due to our own economic problems. Many of the immigrant workers entering the United States find work in production agriculture and add diversity to the face of a dwindling rural America.

It is important for the agriculture industry, trade associations, agribusiness, and American business in general to do a better job of communicating the significance of American agriculture, today and in the future.

It was hearting to see the United States Chamber of Commerce and its foundation give such attention to American agriculture.

Now, let’s get a farm bill.