Report from Governor's Ag Conference

Dear Fellow Nebraskans:

At the 22nd Annual Governor's Ag Conference, several presenters from Nebraska and other states offered insight about the future of the agriculture.

Speakers included Darci Vetter, a native Nebraskan who serves as a Deputy Undersecretary with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Her comments provided an update on federal efforts to expand trade opportunities in 2010 by focusing on three free trade agreements ready for approval by President Obama and Congress.

Expanding markets is critical as Nebraska is one of the nation's largest agricultural producers and ranks fifth in terms of agricultural exports. I appreciate the work Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack and USDA are doing that would encourage new opportunities for producers to expand exports in Columbia, Panama and South Korea.

Many Asian countries are key markets for Nebraska beef and pork products. South Korea would be a particularly valuable market for our producers as we have had good conversations with South Korean officials in the past.

University of Nebraska President James B. Milliken spoke about the university's support for the agriculture industry. While other colleges are reducing their agricultural education programs, enrollment in the University's agricultural programs is expanding. The Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis is expanding with a new education center and residence hall to help support the demand for education in the life sciences and other majors tied to the agriculture industry.

As a research institution, the University of Nebraska is a global leader in studying issues ranging from water for food production, biofuel development, and human and animal health.

Jason Henderson, chief economist for the Omaha branch of the Federal Reserve Bank, highlighted the lessons learned from past economic downturns and recoveries. He also provided an update on global economic outlook.

He encouraged producers to be mindful of obligations during a period of early economic recovery, saying higher input costs and debt had contributed to previous challenges for American farmers. Low interest rates combined with the willingness of banks to issue high-dollar loans created a heavy burden of debt among U.S. agricultural producers in the 1980's. While the national economy is forecasted to stabilize in 2010, he predicted the recovery would feel sluggish to American consumers and encouraged producers to continue to use debt wisely. He advised producers to market agricultural products to new consumers in international markets where the global demand is likely to grow.

Our state has the infrastructure to support transportation of food and agricultural products to other states and U.S. ports. When combined with Nebraska's natural resources and the demand for food forecasted to continue to grow, the future for Nebraska agriculture appears to hold new opportunities. As the backbone industry of our state, the success of our producers is a driver of economic stability and growth.

The Governor's Ag Conference serves as a forum to help individual producers and our agricultural organizations capitalize on opportunities that benefit them and help strengthen our state.