USDA announced a $262.5 million investment in higher education institutions to help build the next generation of agriculture professionals across the nation. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack said this investment is all about building the future of U.S. agriculture.
?If you think about the Department of Agriculture, I think the department is the department of the future,? Vilsack said. ?Virtually everything we do has an impact on the future, to the extent that we farmers who are provided credit, who, in turn, are then able to put seeds in the ground with the understanding that there will be a future harvest. We empower them. We empower rural communities. When you think about our food safety initiative, there is no future if our food is not safe to consume.?
The grants to higher education institutions are run through the National Institute of Food and Agriculture?s From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals Program. Vilsack said each generation of agricultural professionals faces new challenges as they work to feed a growing population.
?From learning to leading, the expectation is that we?re going to invite young people to have experiences, training, and education, with the hope and belief that they will find an opportunity in agriculture, in agribusiness, at USDA, and that, over time, as they take their life experiences and their learning experiences and combine them, they eventually will become the leaders of this department and agriculture across the United States,? Vilsack said.
For more information, visit usda.gov.
