Rural Tour Stops in Corn Country

The USDA Rural Tour has finally made its way to the Midwest, with stops this week at the Iowa and Missouri state fairs.

So far, the tour stops have mostly been in places like North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Alaska. Going back to his home state as former governor, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack held a “town hall” style meeting in the Cattle Barn at the Iowa State Fair. Sporting cowboy boots and sampling choco-bacon, Vilsack talked about a number of rural issues as well as the administration’s priorities of health care reform and climate change legislation.

“There is no question as I travel around the country … they are currently seeing the impact of climate change,” Vilsack said. “There is an expectation of American leadership on this issue. The concern I have is that if we fail to lead on this issue … it will impact not just the cap-and-trade conversation, it will impact our capacity to convince countries to do things in other areas.”

Vilsack acknowledged that energy costs may go up, but he argued that in the short term, there would be offsets with cropping, fertilizer, methane and nitrous oxide reductions that would negate the increases. “Agriculture generally, it’s about a break-even proposition,” he said. “Over the long haul, it is potentially tens of billions of dollars for net income opportunity for farmers and ranchers.”

During an interview with the Des Moines Register, Vilsack said he thought Congress will ultimately pass both monumental national health care and climate change bills. On the subject of ethanol, Vilsack stressed the need for higher blends. “This is a supply issue. What we need are more vehicles that have flex-fuel capability (to use up to 85 percent ethanol), more retail stations with blender pumps that allow the motorist to adjust to the blend they want.”

Vilsack will be piloting the Rural Tour to the Missouri State Fair in Sedalia on Friday where he is scheduled to lead a public forum on rural revitalization at State Fair Community College. Follow the USDA Rural Tour on line here.