Sonny Perdue Panel Discussion

University Communication Author

09/04/2020 Added

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U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue joins Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts, U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry and University of Nebraska–Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green Sept. 4, 2020 for a panel discussion on agricultural innovation at Nebraska Innovation Campus. Mike Boehm, NU vice president and Harlan Vice Chancellor of UNL’s Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, serves as moderator.

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[00:00:07.560]Mike Boehm: Well, good morning. Welcome to the Nebraska
[00:00:10.860]Innovation Campus on the amazing campus of the University of
[00:00:14.580]Nebraska-Lincoln. My name is Mike Boehm, I have the privilege
[00:00:18.870]of serving as the NU, University of Nebraska Vice President for
[00:00:24.360]Agriculture and Natural Resources. And as the IANR
[00:00:29.910]Institute of Ag and Natural Resources, Harland Vice
[00:00:32.700]Chancellor, and I welcome you, those of you who are here with
[00:00:36.990]us socially distanced and masks on to, as well as those that are
[00:00:42.960]live streaming, connected via live streaming from across the
[00:00:47.100]country. And certainly, in Nebraska, we have a
[00:00:50.460]distinguished panel of experts, friends, leaders, first and
[00:00:57.060]foremost, and we get a chance to hear from them For you,
[00:01:00.810]ultimately to ask some questions, we're on a very tight
[00:01:04.140]time schedule. We will start now and we will end promptly at 11
[00:01:09.150]o'clock. And then at that point, if you're here and not part of
[00:01:13.770]the official panel or a member of the media, we ask that you
[00:01:19.410]find your way down to the mill, grab some coffee on your way out
[00:01:24.060]such that they could have some quiet as they do their media
[00:01:26.820]interviews. Without further ado, I have the privilege of
[00:01:30.870]introducing our president, Ted Carter. I will just say a few
[00:01:35.940]things about Ted. I'm a retired Navy officer as a retired Navy
[00:01:40.020]officer, although he outranks me about about seven, seven, rank,
[00:01:45.210]honor, courage and commitment. The three core values of the
[00:01:50.070]United States Navy and for 38 years, Ted Carter wore the
[00:01:54.210]fabric of our our great country, defending our freedom, our
[00:01:58.260]freedom to assemble Freedom to innovate and our freedom to work
[00:02:03.330]collaboratively to keep and move this country forward as a world
[00:02:08.040]leader. So without further ado, President Carter will introduce
[00:02:12.420]our distinguished guests.
[00:02:14.370]Unknown: All right, thank you.
[00:02:20.370]Ted Carter: Thank you, Mike. And good morning everyone. And what
[00:02:22.650]a privilege it is to be with you here in person at the University
[00:02:26.580]of Nebraska Lincoln Innovation Campus. I am Ted Carter on the
[00:02:30.210]eighth president of the University of Nebraska. And I've
[00:02:32.580]been the president here since one January. So I'm, I'm working
[00:02:35.520]into my nine month and I am truly in Nebraska and I can
[00:02:38.610]honestly say that, and my job here is very simple and pretty
[00:02:42.390]short is to give a quick introduction to our panel, and
[00:02:46.200]then get into the heart of what's happening at this most
[00:02:48.300]critical time in our nation. As we here at the university,
[00:02:51.810]Nebraska Lincoln and across our multiple campuses, four campuses
[00:02:55.110]across the state 51,000 students attending class in person at
[00:02:59.790]this time. Moment being led by 16,000 faculty and staff and
[00:03:03.840]we're incredibly proud of that and to be part of that here at
[00:03:06.540]the Lincoln campus. First and foremost our governor for the
[00:03:09.960]state of Nebraska governor Pete Ricketts in his second term, I
[00:03:13.530]can honestly say it having a chance to get to meet all 49
[00:03:17.700]senators are very unique unicameral here in the state of
[00:03:20.280]Nebraska. Governor Pete Ricketts is a true friend of the
[00:03:24.000]University. He actually was our keynote speaker for my investor
[00:03:27.690]churches two weeks ago and I'm thankful for his friendship, his
[00:03:30.810]leadership and what he's done for the state of Nebraska.
[00:03:34.650]Secretary of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue. So, Secretary, as many
[00:03:40.080]of you know has a lifetime of leadership in the agricultural
[00:03:44.610]business having grown up in Georgia having gone to
[00:03:46.890]University of Georgia, where he studied Veterinary Science. He
[00:03:51.240]went on to become the the governor of Georgia and in full
[00:03:54.810]disclosure we met while he was a governor of Georgia and I was
[00:03:58.890]the captain on the USS Carl Vinson, where I create a
[00:04:01.980]relationship with the University of Georgia's Carl Vinson
[00:04:05.490]Institute of Government. So, Mr. Secretary, it's great to see
[00:04:09.420]you. Welcome back to Nebraska. I know everybody's excited to see
[00:04:12.780]you here back with us. Congressman Jeff Fortenberry, it
[00:04:17.070]has been representing the first district for the state of
[00:04:19.830]Nebraska since 2005, member of the House Appropriations
[00:04:23.850]Committee, and I can honestly say haven't gotten to know
[00:04:26.280]congressman Fortenberry that he is a true advocate for
[00:04:29.700]everything that we do, especially on the national
[00:04:32.310]defense side for the University of Nebraska. So Congressman,
[00:04:34.830]good to see you as well. And of course, Chancellor Ronnie green,
[00:04:38.760]Dr. Ronnie green, been the Chancellor here at U and l since
[00:04:42.360]2016. And if you are having a boring day, just think about how
[00:04:47.070]busy Ronnie green is these days dealing with the big 10 and
[00:04:50.700]college football. And I just want to say that for all the
[00:04:54.690]things that you're reading out there, just know that there's no
[00:04:57.210]Council of presidents and chancellors meetings today
[00:04:59.730]because Ronnie's here. So in the information and disinformation
[00:05:03.990]campaign, what's going to be happening college football I
[00:05:07.290]will tell you right now is being led by the conversations that
[00:05:10.470]are coming out of here in the state of Nebraska but beyond
[00:05:13.320]Husker football and other athletics, Ronnie is a
[00:05:15.900]remarkable talent in the academic field in veterinary
[00:05:19.110]medicine, remarkable career getting to this path and I
[00:05:22.830]couldn't be more proud of the work he's doing here as
[00:05:24.690]Chancellor. So ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our panel
[00:05:27.510]and Mike back over to you.
[00:05:36.090]Mike Boehm: Thanks, Ted. We'll jump right into it. I'd be
[00:05:38.400]remiss However, if I didn't say thank you to those assembled
[00:05:41.550]here those watching by life stream our producers, our
[00:05:46.530]processors, our farmers, our ranchers, are really amazing
[00:05:50.940]innovators in this in this state. It's a hallmark of who
[00:05:54.870]they are hard work, the grit, the determination and it is just
[00:05:59.280]personal pleasure and fun and humbled to be a part of
[00:06:03.720]innovating and co creating ag innovation solutions for the
[00:06:07.500]future. So shout out to all of you here. And, and and listening
[00:06:12.690]via live stream. Well, this is a question to get us going. We
[00:06:15.900]just finished a tour. I'll be at a quick tour. And I wondered if
[00:06:20.160]you could think a little bit about what what you just saw
[00:06:23.220]what you heard from some of our amazing faculty and share some
[00:06:26.520]of your impressions about the tours, the takeaways and about
[00:06:29.370]agricultural innovation in general, just to set the stage.
[00:06:32.820]And we'll we'll start with with the Secretary, Mr. Secretary,
[00:06:37.000]Sonny Perdue: I would love to start there, Mike, because it
[00:06:39.880]was obviously very intriguing of what we saw. This January. We
[00:06:44.560]began with our ag innovation agenda. And and what we see it
[00:06:48.520]here is just playing out there. With all the innovative things
[00:06:52.210]that you had from the high pressure pasteurization helps
[00:06:55.510]preserve food more, but certainly in the genomic and
[00:06:58.840]fino type of an Analysis of plants, how they adapt to
[00:07:02.350]climate change, and how they can be more productive. We all want
[00:07:07.330]to be sustainable in agriculture. And that's what I
[00:07:09.610]saw here. The kind of basic and applied research provides a path
[00:07:14.410]forward to sustainability while we have the obligation to feed
[00:07:18.970]the growing world of 10 billion people. And USDA, his motto is
[00:07:23.170]now be right and feed everyone. But it really is universities
[00:07:26.410]like this that that make that happen. I think, Governor, you
[00:07:30.910]can tell from the President's remarks big words chosen Well,
[00:07:36.100]for another leader, and we're happy to be here. Obviously, we
[00:07:40.180]we very much appreciate you all loaning Greg Ibach to us as well
[00:07:44.320]and doing a great job at his position and at USDA and, but
[00:07:49.990]the things that we see happening here from food processing food
[00:07:52.990]safety, the most intriguing thing where I think the future
[00:07:56.410]of food and agriculture is is really Really food for medicine.
[00:08:02.770]And we were talking about coming out walking out of all the
[00:08:07.390]things that we're working on how food can actually be therapeutic
[00:08:12.250]for our bodies, matching those kinds of things with what our
[00:08:15.610]bodies really need and prosper with. For the that's, that's the
[00:08:19.570]de right part. While we feed everyone, it's really creating a
[00:08:23.470]healthy generation going forward. So it depends on basic
[00:08:28.780]science like we see here, this ag innovation, and then moving
[00:08:32.140]into applied research like we saw in the drones in the fields
[00:08:36.040]there. And then finally, through a great extinction service
[00:08:38.770]moving into the application from regular producers be their
[00:08:43.240]animal or plant based plant producer. So it's thrilling to
[00:08:48.670]me to see that the nexus of the ag innovation a university come
[00:08:54.280]together with new and and, and creative things, designing
[00:08:58.030]things that we don't even know about yet. We'll help us fulfill
[00:09:01.480]that in the biotech sector as well as all other other ways of
[00:09:05.860]processing and handling making food more safe, more healthy,
[00:09:09.340]more nutritious. So I'm happy to be here. I look forward to
[00:09:12.670]learning more about it.
[00:09:13.650]Mike Boehm: Yeah, that's, that's great. So stimulating egg
[00:09:16.710]innovation to increase food production by 40%, while cutting
[00:09:20.970]our footprint, by by by half by the year 2050. Yeah, the ag
[00:09:25.590]innovation agenda. Thank you.
[00:09:27.270]Sonny Perdue: And it won't happen without the type of
[00:09:29.730]things that we saw here this morning happening all over the
[00:09:32.010]country. Yeah.
[00:09:33.120]Mike Boehm: Well, Governor Ricketts, you mind following
[00:09:35.880]Secretary there?
[00:09:36.990]Pete Ricketts: Well, the Secretary is always a tough act
[00:09:38.850]to follow. So but thank you again, Secretary for being here.
[00:09:42.180]We really appreciate it. Yeah, the things we saw here today, I
[00:09:45.540]think were just really cool. The technology you mentioned the,
[00:09:49.140]the high pressure pasteurization which doesn't involve heat and
[00:09:52.410]therefore preserves the food better and so it tastes better.
[00:09:55.950]That's real world stuff. We just saw that as we were mentioning
[00:09:59.040]out at pet stores. They're going to be doing that as far as their
[00:10:02.310]pet food products in Seward, Nebraska that actually will be
[00:10:04.710]pasteurized here in Lincoln, which is done by a company that
[00:10:07.680]is one of the largest in the world doing it are one of the
[00:10:10.140]largest in the nation. So it's really cool to see that the
[00:10:13.200]things you're doing here have real world applications today.
[00:10:17.730]And then the follow on to that was the future stuff that you're
[00:10:21.600]working on. That just goes in line with everything that we do
[00:10:24.870]here in Nebraska. You know, I'm fond of saying that our farmers
[00:10:28.110]and ranchers were the original conservationists. And one of the
[00:10:31.650]things that we have done over the years is we learned how to
[00:10:34.170]produce more with less, using less water on our fields,
[00:10:37.710]getting higher yields from our corn, for example. Those are all
[00:10:41.430]examples of getting to your mission of how we feed the world
[00:10:44.310]and do right by making sure we're preserving the
[00:10:46.530]environment. And the work here is really laying the groundwork
[00:10:49.920]for that next generation or that next step that we're going to
[00:10:52.350]take here in Nebraska, to be able to figure out what do we do
[00:10:55.710]to be able to feed this growing world and do in a way that is
[00:10:58.650]going to conserve our natural resources to be able to
[00:11:01.110]accomplish that. So it's it's really in line with everything
[00:11:03.840]that we've done here as a state for generations, with our
[00:11:06.750]farmers and ranchers and university, Nebraska is again
[00:11:10.080]with that land grant legacy is taking it to the next level
[00:11:13.860]again, to make sure we continue to do that here in the state.
[00:11:16.890]Mike Boehm: Great. Thanks. And of course, during President
[00:11:19.800]Carr's investiture, you talked about his Top Gun experience and
[00:11:23.130]how he was a Top Gun leader at a Top Gun University and he
[00:11:27.030]reciprocated by saying we're in a Top Gun state and certainly
[00:11:29.910]for ag innovation. That partnership is really is really
[00:11:33.420]amazing congressman Fortenberry.
[00:11:37.020]Unknown: Thanks, Mike so much and welcome, Mr. Secretary
[00:11:39.870]again, as well. We're really privileged to have you here in
[00:11:43.140]Congress. I am what's called the ranking member of the
[00:11:45.570]agricultural Subcommittee on appropriations, a lot of words
[00:11:48.660]but basically we fund the budget for our farmers and ranchers and
[00:11:52.770]stabilization policies and food security throughout the country.
[00:11:56.610]The Secretary works intimately with us we are On the phone,
[00:12:01.320]frequently with the chairman, who is a democrat colleague of
[00:12:05.130]the secretary when he was governor in from Georgia,
[00:12:09.420]because agriculture is one of these spaces that just
[00:12:11.910]transcends divides. It is about food, food security, health,
[00:12:16.260]well being nutrition, a lot of the things that we take for
[00:12:18.960]granted. So, Mike, kind of to the heart of your question, I
[00:12:22.290]like to, before I project out to where we're going in terms of
[00:12:26.280]innovation, take a step back and look at where we're coming from.
[00:12:29.340]You think about America, we just have this tremendous gift of
[00:12:32.280]resources. Add in the stewardship, innovation, hard
[00:12:37.230]work of farmers and ranchers combined with the land grant
[00:12:41.850]system 150 plus years ago now, which moved technology out in
[00:12:46.650]the field, this is why we leave feed ourselves and help feed the
[00:12:50.880]world and lead the entire world in this space of innovation. So
[00:12:55.470]just to your point of seeing some of the specifics of what
[00:12:58.020]you're doing with plants, individual corn plants moving
[00:13:01.830]down a conveyor belt being taken, having photos taken of
[00:13:05.280]them all along the way water light adjustments being made and
[00:13:08.790]moving those out into the field, all oriented toward what is this
[00:13:12.600]21st century architecture of what agriculture is going to be?
[00:13:17.430]Again, following up on the great tradition of stewardship of the
[00:13:20.340]land, decreasing inputs, expanding outputs, preserving
[00:13:26.040]that precious gift of resources, and that just doesn't happen
[00:13:28.860]because of abstract ideas. It happens because of collaboration
[00:13:31.920]in partnership with the administration, with Congress,
[00:13:35.730]and with innovation happening right here. So very impressive.
[00:13:38.790]Thanks so much. We've got a tremendous amount of work to do.
[00:13:41.160]But people are all focused all around the world, in many ways,
[00:13:44.850]just right here, not only on our entire land grant system, but
[00:13:47.400]here at the University of Nebraska, awaiting the results
[00:13:50.250]of your good experimental
[00:13:51.300]Mike Boehm: Well, I 21st century architecture of what agriculture
[00:13:55.590]is to be for society. I appreciate that. Thank you. You
[00:13:58.890]stayed up all night thinking That one No, you know, it's an
[00:14:01.980]amazing opportunity to bring together federal executive
[00:14:05.820]branch with federal legislative branch with state executive
[00:14:10.830]branch and then think about the lane grant university system. So
[00:14:14.460]we oftentimes talk about 1862. Here. 1862 was a marquee year,
[00:14:19.650]the year that moral Act was signed into law creating the
[00:14:23.760]land grant university system of which the University of Nebraska
[00:14:27.240]is is a key part of that. The US Department of Agriculture was
[00:14:32.190]created in 1862. The railway Act, the Pacific rail, white
[00:14:37.320]roads act of 1862, opened up the trans continental rail system
[00:14:42.930]that is so, so critical today in our global food system. And so
[00:14:48.990]with that, I'd like to ask
[00:14:51.270]Pete Ricketts: I can just build on something that he said
[00:14:53.220]because I thought he had upon something that I want to
[00:14:56.610]reiterate because it is pretty cool. You were talking about The
[00:15:00.120]corn right and that was in the greenhouse it was getting the
[00:15:03.030]pictures taken. But also, we saw how we saw the video of how that
[00:15:06.930]was actually being taken to the field. You mentioned that where
[00:15:10.110]you actually had the corn out there. And you had the spider
[00:15:12.390]cam that was contained, able to continue to take the pictures
[00:15:14.370]except, you know, it was out in the field, the corn doing it.
[00:15:17.370]That's huge that they're thinking about not only what
[00:15:20.220]works in the lab, but then the and this is what your PhDs told
[00:15:25.470]us. It has to work in the field, right? It's not good enough just
[00:15:28.650]to have something academically theoretical, and maybe I can
[00:15:31.950]duplicate in a lab, but then it's actually got to apply
[00:15:34.110]itself out into the field. And again, I just wanted to mention
[00:15:37.380]that because I thought that was great that they were thinking
[00:15:39.900]about how to take that next step and, you know, really making
[00:15:43.290]that happen in a way that you could actually see in a real
[00:15:45.780]world way.
[00:15:46.450]Mike Boehm: Well, Governor Ricketts that was a perfect
[00:15:48.190]setup for Chancellor Green who will talk about translation from
[00:15:52.720]theory into practice. And Ronnie, would you like to share
[00:15:57.010]your opening thoughts?
[00:15:58.570]Ronnie Green: Sure. dangerous to give me a mic on this. I think
[00:16:02.140]everybody in the state knows this. So it's great to be here
[00:16:05.650]and have a chance to talk about agriculture innovation and
[00:16:08.230]welcome Secretary Perdue. Back to Nebraska. I know that you
[00:16:12.520]were planning to be here for the State Fair last year about this
[00:16:15.760]time. So you're in the Old State Fairgrounds, as we were talking
[00:16:19.630]about earlier. Here on this used to be the upper deck of our show
[00:16:24.730]floor in the four h arena. So welcome to Nebraska. Yo, the the
[00:16:29.890]agriculture innovation agenda that USDA has underway and
[00:16:34.000]Secretary referred to as having been put in place earlier this
[00:16:38.050]year, could not be more targeted more correctly. I think that is
[00:16:43.780]exactly where we need to be focusing our resources, as
[00:16:48.460]several of the speakers have already said the need for us to
[00:16:51.940]continue to increase productivity out to 2050 but
[00:16:55.810]doing so in a way that we know will be sustainable and will
[00:16:59.860]come serve those resources long term. I just wanted to
[00:17:03.430]congratulate the secretary here personally on that agenda
[00:17:07.030]because it's rooted in. And I know it's part of the plank that
[00:17:10.900]you have on the National Academies of Science,
[00:17:14.650]Engineering and medicine science breakthroughs to 2030 that we
[00:17:18.730]were part of framing early on, that points to the needs in
[00:17:25.030]these areas of genome Tofino and microbiome and data sciences and
[00:17:31.030]transdisciplinary efforts across the board. What makes me
[00:17:35.380]excited, Mike, to answer your question directly is that is
[00:17:38.740]exactly what you saw right here is that we are focused in those
[00:17:43.120]ways that are going to make a difference in our research
[00:17:47.080]programs here that will bring science to practice. So great to
[00:17:51.460]have you here. Always good to see the governor and Congressman
[00:17:54.310]and up looking forward to a robust Thanks. Thanks, Ronnie.
[00:17:57.520]Bringing science into practice. I think What I'd like to do is
[00:18:01.030]ask each of you a question and then we'll come back maybe to a
[00:18:04.360]group question and then open it up to folks here. Secretary
[00:18:08.620]Perdue, one of the wonderful things that this happened under
[00:18:12.940]your leadership is that you've made a concerted effort to bring
[00:18:16.150]the US Department of Agriculture to the people of this this great
[00:18:19.990]country, to closer to the people and the producers. Would you
[00:18:23.740]mind providing us maybe the group would appreciate hearing a
[00:18:28.300]bit more about the thumbnail sketch on the USDA agriculture
[00:18:31.540]innovation agenda. That definitely focuses on ag
[00:18:35.770]innovation, but also rural prosperity, and wondered if you
[00:18:39.160]wouldn't mind giving us a little bit more detail. We talked about
[00:18:42.190]14% increase in food over the next 30 years while also
[00:18:46.630]reducing our environmental footprint. But there are some
[00:18:49.600]other pillars of the innovation agenda that I think folks would
[00:18:52.780]like to hear about.
[00:18:53.920]Sonny Perdue: Well, absolutely ag innovation really goes hand
[00:18:56.380]in hand with rural prosperity as you will know I would mentioned
[00:19:00.010]We use the word sustainability a lot. And in agriculture today,
[00:19:05.230]and I want to kind of tell you, Chancellor, how we define it. I
[00:19:09.220]know, you know, but I'd love for the audience to hear, really the
[00:19:12.850]three pillars of sustainability. Many times that the majority of
[00:19:18.130]the public thinks about environmental sustainability,
[00:19:20.500]and we do as well. I don't know of a former governor who wants
[00:19:24.460]to poison the land, they want the future generations to
[00:19:27.280]utilize to grow food. So as you said, they're the original
[00:19:30.400]conservationists. How do we give them the tools from land grant
[00:19:33.550]universities to be even better, doing more with less so there's
[00:19:37.150]an environmental sustainability portion of that. But when you
[00:19:40.240]think about doing right and feeding everyone, there is a
[00:19:43.150]social sustainability, their food has to be affordable. We
[00:19:47.320]can't This is not just for the elite. When you feed 10 billion
[00:19:50.620]people. It has to be socially affordable layer, which is
[00:19:54.880]socially sustainability and the ability to cure hunger around
[00:19:59.470]the world. And, frankly, we've made a lot of progress in that.
[00:20:02.620]But there's a lot of progress that can be made. In other
[00:20:05.170]words, you know, other parts of the world are food insecure in
[00:20:09.040]many ways. But then the third part that many people don't
[00:20:12.820]think about where I appreciated. The tool we already had this
[00:20:16.600]morning is a recognition from our land grants. And our basic
[00:20:20.200]Ph. C scientists, there has to be economic sustainability,
[00:20:24.400]because if farmers and producers cannot make a living, doing what
[00:20:29.080]they're doing with all these noble causes, they can't
[00:20:31.720]continue. They have children to educated families to feed and to
[00:20:35.560]do things as well. So they're really three pillars of that
[00:20:38.230]sustainability. That's why I'm like that integration between
[00:20:41.950]our ag innovation agenda with really essentially doing more
[00:20:45.220]with less. And Chancellor I know you're a love to hear about your
[00:20:49.930]big 10 efforts here, but as well as no job. We're keeping a
[00:20:54.220]scoreboard on it. gov probably knows and congressmen certainly
[00:20:58.660]knows many times when the Have aspirational goals that will put
[00:21:02.140]out 10 years, Congressman, but we don't start the school board
[00:21:05.020]until the night in Avila, two minutes left on the clock. And
[00:21:08.440]so we're starting at now we want a school board, you know, moment
[00:21:12.040]by moment to see how we're doing in these goals of reducing our
[00:21:16.210]footprint by 50%. Moving forward of that, so we just don't get to
[00:21:20.260]them say, Oh, we didn't make it, that kind of thing. So we're
[00:21:23.980]holding ourselves accountable, to do the kind of things that
[00:21:26.920]will matter. And what we see here, really food for health and
[00:21:31.420]innovation of productivity, using less resources is all part
[00:21:35.680]of that sustainability. So that's the that's the great
[00:21:38.320]thing about our ag innovation agenda. It just slides right in
[00:21:41.530]like a hand in glove with our research institutions and ag
[00:21:46.180]land grant universities, like this one here.
[00:21:49.810]Mike Boehm: Yeah, I'm Ronnie would be happy to talk about
[00:21:53.890]athletics, if we're talking about turf, or we're talking
[00:21:57.100]about high performance athletes and their physiology and brain
[00:22:00.340]chemistry. But outside of that, I think we should keep moving
[00:22:03.970]along. Mr. Secretary, you're you. You mentioned the
[00:22:10.030]sustainable piece. But there's also this alignment piece. So
[00:22:14.350]part of the innovation agenda is the alignment of resources.
[00:22:19.270]Could you just speak a little bit from your perspective about
[00:22:22.480]the alignment of resources in partnership with the legislative
[00:22:26.770]branch with state government? Secretary, Director Steve
[00:22:31.360]Wellman from Nebraska Department of Ag is in the audience and our
[00:22:35.260]land grant system. How do we how do you see and and where do you
[00:22:40.630]see us going at maximizing that integration, to meet these goals
[00:22:45.790]of aligning and modernizing and stimulating ag innovation?
[00:22:49.600]Sonny Perdue: Well, obviously we're dependent on congressman
[00:22:51.610]Fortenberry in his position there to prove to them that
[00:22:54.880]we're being good stewards of the money the taxpayer money they
[00:22:58.300]appropriate us in order They will do more. And we can do more
[00:23:02.740]along with that, but we can't do it by ourselves. And that's the
[00:23:05.620]whole purpose. There's a great ecosystem of innovation across
[00:23:10.600]this country, many, much of it with our ag Research Service in
[00:23:15.280]the USDA, in alignment with our land grant universities, both
[00:23:20.290]our 1860s and 1890s. And in those arrangements that way, you
[00:23:25.270]know, NIFA is the is a big partner with land grants in both
[00:23:30.940]competitive grants as well as capacity grants and doing that,
[00:23:35.320]but there's a huge private sector, the governor's talked
[00:23:37.420]about that. And we can't ignore that it's really moving in a
[00:23:41.740]aligned position here. And the great economy of this country
[00:23:47.020]has allowed for innovation to be the real key. While other
[00:23:51.130]countries have been very successful in copying what we
[00:23:53.440]do, in fact, sometimes illegally copying what we're doing.
[00:23:57.220]America is the great innovator and the greatest inventor of
[00:24:01.510]technology and and food production. And I've told the
[00:24:05.710]president this governor said, If I believe if manufacturing had
[00:24:09.670]the same degree of basic research, applied research and
[00:24:13.540]delivery system like extension, I don't think we'd be talking
[00:24:16.630]about the demise of American manufacturing. The miracle of
[00:24:20.140]American agriculture has been phenomenal 400% increase in
[00:24:25.120]production over the last nine years, with 10% less acres in
[00:24:29.500]that way. If that's not doing more with less, I don't know
[00:24:32.050]what it is. But it needs all of us and the kind of things that
[00:24:35.320]we do the collaboration between University of Nebraska and this
[00:24:39.250]ag innovation center here along with other partners with a noble
[00:24:44.380]cause of feeding the world. It's not a proprietary thing. It's
[00:24:48.370]not. It's not the kind of thing we want to hoard, but share
[00:24:52.060]transparently and open source to really get it done quicker.
[00:24:55.830]Mike Boehm: Yeah, thank you. So the innovation and you can't
[00:24:58.380]talk Nebraska without talking About the innovators from Fred
[00:25:02.550]Astaire or gosh Gabby Union to Standing Bear to Chief Red Cloud
[00:25:09.420]to Marie Sandoz to Willa Cather to Johnny Carson. Heck, Larry,
[00:25:15.330]the Cable Guy. jump over to you. Governor Ricketts, innovators,
[00:25:21.450]Nebraska hand in hand egg innovation. You talk a lot about
[00:25:25.860]I've listened about growing Nebraska and this partnership.
[00:25:29.160]Can you speak a little bit about how ag innovation, how the ag
[00:25:33.150]economy is a part of growing Nebraska?
[00:25:36.630]Pete Ricketts: Yeah, absolutely. You know, agriculture is the
[00:25:38.580]heart and soul of what we do here in Nebraska is our number
[00:25:40.710]one industry, one in four jobs are tied to agriculture. And so
[00:25:45.420]if we're going to grow our state, we have to grow our
[00:25:47.280]state's number one industry, which is agriculture. And that's
[00:25:49.500]what you see. And actually I wanted to hit upon one of the
[00:25:51.720]things the Secretary said about because you mentioned the noble
[00:25:54.390]mission of feeding the world. You talked about extension and
[00:25:58.080]how that had been so key for Innovation. I think that when
[00:26:02.640]you're talking about alignment, that mission of feeding a
[00:26:05.280]growing world is part of what also helps align everybody
[00:26:09.000]around driving that. Because I, you know, last night I was at
[00:26:12.750]the State Fair, and I was judging the supreme champion
[00:26:15.750]beef. And one of the judges who's from Idaho, was there
[00:26:19.770]talking about just making some remarks, but he mentioned
[00:26:22.800]feeding the world. This is something that is pervasive
[00:26:26.190]through agriculture. It is a shared goal and mission by every
[00:26:29.400]producer to feed the world. And I think that, you know, it is a
[00:26:33.180]noble mission. And it is, it's the person who is doing the
[00:26:36.990]judging at the State Fair from Idaho last night. It's the the,
[00:26:40.590]the farmer that, you know, is in the central part of our state.
[00:26:44.250]Everybody you talk to, that's what they get. That's what they
[00:26:46.770]know, the mission is about. I think that's what helps drive
[00:26:48.810]that alignment. And of course, if we're going to continue to be
[00:26:51.990]able to do that we need people, as you mentioned about getting
[00:26:54.780]back to the innovation theme. We need people continue to invest
[00:26:58.080]and making sure that we're finding ways to do That's where
[00:27:00.510]the university is key with regard to pioneering some of
[00:27:03.510]these technologies. But then, you know, you want to talk about
[00:27:07.170]a huge innovation here in our state center pivot irrigation.
[00:27:10.410]Mike Boehm: Yeah, right, sidebar.
[00:27:11.880]Pete Ricketts: 1948. Absolutely, I mean that we are we 80% of the
[00:27:15.210]world's center pivots are manufactured here in Nebraska.
[00:27:17.820]And that is what has led us to be the biggest irrigated state
[00:27:22.770]in the country. We have more irrigated acres, over eight and
[00:27:25.500]a half million of them in California. We think about that,
[00:27:29.040]that that is, again, how Nebraska drives innovation that
[00:27:32.760]then changes the world. So it is I think, gets back to the work.
[00:27:37.560]He talks about extension, I think it gets back to the
[00:27:39.420]alignment of how we think about feeding the world, and how
[00:27:43.560]everybody is all rowing the oars in the same direction around
[00:27:46.140]accomplishing that. And then you see, again, the magic of the
[00:27:49.680]free enterprise system where people invest, look for those
[00:27:52.800]innovations. And again, this is how we can continue to drive
[00:27:56.400]down how much water we're using to grow more corn. So I think
[00:27:59.820]it'd be It just gets back to we do have all the things aligned
[00:28:02.760]here in Nebraska and leverage the University of Nebraska. We
[00:28:06.570]leverage the free enterprise system. And that's what's
[00:28:08.430]driving all the innovation.
[00:28:09.750]Mike Boehm: Yeah. Thank you, Governor, you know, you, you
[00:28:12.060]touch on so many things, center pivot irrigation while we
[00:28:15.510]started in that way. You go and visit any one of our amazing
[00:28:20.160]world leading center pivot manufacturers, and you'll find
[00:28:23.730]that they're also into smart infrastructure, whether that's
[00:28:26.580]connected with the railroad, whether that's about highways,
[00:28:29.550]whether it's autonomous vehicles. Secretary Perdue, you
[00:28:33.270]talked about, again, food for medicine. You can't talk about
[00:28:36.960]agriculture without thinking about the 21st century
[00:28:39.870]architecture of agriculture and innovation. It permeates
[00:28:43.440]everything that we do. We've talked about big data, we've
[00:28:46.110]talked about rural prosperity, rural communities, those
[00:28:49.350]communities thrive by having access to amazing schools. Safe
[00:28:55.170]affordable food, access to health care, innovation.
[00:29:00.000]Entrepreneurship, those are really these pillars that we're
[00:29:02.460]talking about governor Ricketts, would you share just a little
[00:29:04.830]bit about from your vantage point as a chief executive
[00:29:08.520]officer, the governor of this great state, as you work with
[00:29:12.300]the other components, the federal executive, legislative,
[00:29:16.530]state land grant system, for example, what does that look
[00:29:18.990]like? And then local governments as well?
[00:29:20.940]Pete Ricketts: Yeah, I think it has to be a team effort. You
[00:29:23.370]know, the federal government, obviously, with Congressman
[00:29:25.500]Fortenberry, you'll be on the Appropriations Committee is
[00:29:28.290]deciding kind of the high level priorities for the nation, and
[00:29:32.430]carrying out that policy through how they fund right and of
[00:29:35.220]course, USDA is a partner in making all that happen. But
[00:29:39.480]ultimately, it comes down to what's happening in each
[00:29:41.790]individual state. And that's where our system of federalism,
[00:29:44.610]I think, again, is just one of the strengths of our nation,
[00:29:46.950]because you know, what works in Nebraska may not work in New
[00:29:49.980]Jersey or Maryland, and vice versa. So we have to have the
[00:29:53.580]capability or the ability to be flexible with regard to how we
[00:29:57.210]take the big overall strategic position is coming from the
[00:29:59.820]federal Government and then apply it specifically in our
[00:30:01.980]states. And I think that's where, again, university
[00:30:04.350]Nebraska comes in because we do the research here, where our
[00:30:08.100]state, you know, Director of agriculture, Steve Wellman works
[00:30:11.820]with our producers to be able to do it. And then we work with our
[00:30:14.100]local governments as well to be able to make sure we're all
[00:30:16.710]falling on, you know, what's right for Nebraska as far as
[00:30:18.960]implementing that policy.
[00:30:20.010]Mike Boehm: Great. Congressman Fortenberry. Recently. Adam
[00:30:24.330]marked up. You talked about a markup of the US House
[00:30:27.960]agricultural Appropriations Subcommittee meeting and you
[00:30:30.720]spoke about the your vision for the farm of the future. So we've
[00:30:34.620]already talked a little bit about the architecture of
[00:30:37.080]agriculture in the 21st century. Can you talk a little bit about
[00:30:40.710]how you see the future of agriculture growing here in
[00:30:44.130]Nebraska.
[00:30:46.170]Jeff Fortenberry: Happy to. May I take a step back.
[00:30:49.650]Mike Boehm: You can, please
[00:30:50.340]Jeff Fortenberry: I'm sitting here reflecting on something the Secretary and
[00:30:52.980]Governor mentioned the importance of agricultural
[00:30:55.020]extension. My grandfather was a county agent and my mother was a
[00:30:59.190]four h extension agent now called for each extension
[00:31:02.760]educator. My father died when I was young. And I remember my
[00:31:07.020]grandfather looking at me and said, Jeffrey, what do you want
[00:31:09.330]to do in life? I said, Papa, I want to be a farmer. Well, life
[00:31:13.770]didn't exactly take that pathway. But look, look here, I
[00:31:17.700]said, and engaged in this extraordinary discussion with
[00:31:20.700]Secretary of agricultural governor, our state, with all of
[00:31:23.610]you innovators and educators who are again, shepherding this
[00:31:26.700]great gift of our resources for, again, the well being of society
[00:31:30.660]and its most elemental way food. And so I just feel a tremendous
[00:31:34.650]privilege in that regard. I think that's probably the
[00:31:36.900]underlying sentiment, and which I was expressing a projection of
[00:31:41.010]what the farm of the future looks like. Something else that
[00:31:44.070]to add to this is the a couple years ago, I think it was
[00:31:47.190]Chancellor green and I were in this conversation. Agricultural
[00:31:50.130]programs are growing student programs here. And of course,
[00:31:54.360]they're building upon the traditional fields of Agronomy
[00:31:56.760]and plant science and animal science, but it's all As
[00:32:00.360]environmental science, it's also international development,
[00:32:03.930]health and nutrition, talking about an alignment, that is the
[00:32:08.640]future of agriculture and what is creating a huge amount of
[00:32:11.430]exciting opportunities that are attracting ever increasing
[00:32:14.370]numbers of young people because it is a holistic approach to the
[00:32:18.330]well being of persons and the well being of society. And so
[00:32:21.780]when you talk specifically about the farm itself, obviously
[00:32:24.720]production ag is our base. It's our tradition. And it's the
[00:32:28.590]building block of our well being, using the tools of
[00:32:31.980]innovation, so that precision agriculture more precisely
[00:32:35.970]applies the inputs, and produces greater outputs with less
[00:32:39.630]footprint, as you've talked about. Huge, huge opportunity
[00:32:43.740]that comes about though through the advancement of technology.
[00:32:47.460]The secretary and I are winning alignment and we just up the
[00:32:51.030]budget tremendously for something called rural broadband
[00:32:53.730]high speed internet now that has big big implications for
[00:32:56.760]precision agriculture for telehealth, tell Tell her
[00:33:00.360]education and tell a work in the pandemic that swept upon us. Of
[00:33:04.740]course, it's
[00:33:05.340]Mike Boehm: really everything everything.
[00:33:07.260]Jeff Fortenbery: It is. It's a tectonic plate shift that I think it's
[00:33:09.960]going to advance as much further. So I think Congress in
[00:33:12.240]the administration are actually ahead of this, to try to empower
[00:33:16.260]what that in terms of the agriculture sector and rural
[00:33:18.630]development are going to look like to enhance economic well
[00:33:22.920]being through a specific level of expenditure to get this
[00:33:25.830]technology out there. One final point, yes, we're talking a lot
[00:33:29.460]about the building blocks of traditional ag production, of
[00:33:32.400]course, and that's our source in mainstay. But the agricultural
[00:33:36.000]family is expanding through niche opportunities value adds.
[00:33:40.830]What we're interested in is connecting the farmer to the
[00:33:43.740]family and the urban to the rural and then creating local
[00:33:48.570]food economies. People want to know where their food comes
[00:33:52.050]from. This is a growing market preference. And you're going to
[00:33:55.380]see this shape the future of agriculture as well. When today
[00:34:00.000]Role crop farmers potentially peel off a few acres and do
[00:34:03.600]something specialized. A young farmer who never necessarily
[00:34:07.440]have a lot of land and be engaged in a high production may
[00:34:11.790]peel off some soil especially project. You've got a food
[00:34:15.120]processing here that is value adding all of that is combined
[00:34:19.380]into again,
[00:34:20.580]Mike Boehm: yeah farm of the future of congressman
[00:34:22.590]Fortenberry. As usual. There's a lot there to unpack. And we
[00:34:25.920]don't have time today. But I think we've been saying the farm
[00:34:29.250]of the future, we also mean the ranch of the future, the meat
[00:34:32.580]processing facility of the future, the feed yard innovation
[00:34:36.240]of the future, and we're really talking beyond food. We're
[00:34:39.570]talking about food, fuel, feed and fiber. And so ag innovation
[00:34:43.920]playing a key role there. Chancellor green, bringing it
[00:34:47.790]home, you've talked about science and moving science into
[00:34:51.990]practice. Can you talk a little bit about how you are now big
[00:34:55.980]UML not just I in RS position, to bring practical in innovative
[00:35:00.450]solutions to ag innovation but also really to the people of all
[00:35:04.950]of this great state here in Nebraska,
[00:35:08.040]Ronnie Green: or might take just one step back like my
[00:35:12.000]congressman did a minute ago. And we're sharing with the
[00:35:15.030]Secretary over this morning when we were doing a shared
[00:35:18.450]stewardship agreement between the state and the university and
[00:35:21.570]the Forest Service in the forest area. Many Nebraskans will
[00:35:25.200]recognize the name Charles Bessie. And Dr. Bessie was a
[00:35:30.300]professor here early in our history came here in the early
[00:35:33.630]1880s. We adopted him from Ohio, and he came and stayed the rest
[00:35:38.400]of his life. Dr. Bessie was actually the architect of the
[00:35:42.630]Hatch Act that formed the ag research enterprises. We know
[00:35:47.100]what with the land grant system went on to be the father of
[00:35:50.250]ecology and grassland ecology in particular, went on to be one of
[00:35:54.750]the founders of Science Magazine, the major, your
[00:35:57.780]science publication in the world. So we were kind of in the
[00:36:01.620]seat at the very beginning on this ag innovation thing. And
[00:36:04.650]it's been our it's been at a core of who we are ever since at
[00:36:08.940]the University of Nebraska. I want to also point back to the
[00:36:14.250]Secretary reference the partnership between all of these
[00:36:17.490]different pieces of the puzzle. And you mentioned IRS, and the
[00:36:22.380]Agricultural Research Service, the in house research arm of the
[00:36:26.520]US Department of Agriculture. We have we house the US meat animal
[00:36:30.570]research center here and have since the late 1960s. That's the
[00:36:34.710]world leading center anywhere in the world to do with red meat
[00:36:39.150]production, as part of USDA has been a partnership with the
[00:36:42.660]University from that for many years. I've got a personal place
[00:36:45.120]in my heart for it. I did my PhD there. I think everyone knows
[00:36:48.000]that. But it's so worldleading center that continues to make
[00:36:51.750]that innovation along with other entities. I'm so pleased to see
[00:36:56.760]and Congressman, thank you for your support in this The desire
[00:37:01.350]to increase the funding for competitive research in USDA and
[00:37:06.780]ag food Research Initiative, we continue to see that increase. I
[00:37:10.080]know that's in the plan for this year as well, it's so critical
[00:37:13.800]to what we're doing here and to continue to increase that level
[00:37:17.820]of funding. And I'll just throw it out there. We're excited
[00:37:21.090]about the potential for here on this campus, a new center for
[00:37:27.510]the farm of the future. That is under discussion I know within
[00:37:31.380]USDA that will do exactly the kinds of things you're talking
[00:37:34.770]about. So just wanted to get those plugs in Mike before we
[00:37:37.440]got the opportunity. But, but to your central question.
[00:37:43.860]Absolutely. The university here is has been a world leader in
[00:37:49.080]this arena. We are positioned to continue to be a world leader
[00:37:53.160]because of the importance of these areas to us in all of the
[00:37:57.450]ways that I mentioned earlier in my open house.
[00:38:00.000]Mike Boehm: Yeah, first thing I would say is you see Secretary
[00:38:03.540]Purdue if you if you take a shot at the chancellor, he's gonna
[00:38:07.350]he's gonna take a shot back. So great to get those in there. You
[00:38:11.610]know, Ronnie listening to you a little bit about partnerships.
[00:38:16.050]Certainly the partnership that you mentioned with USDA ers at
[00:38:20.940]us meat animal research center, but we also have a number of
[00:38:25.080]scientists on the East Campus, for example, that are hrs
[00:38:28.470]colleagues, our partnership that you'll be so celebrating here,
[00:38:32.760]the three of you at the end, between the US Forest Service
[00:38:36.720]and the Nebraska Forest Service another great example of a
[00:38:40.320]partnership, the US Geological surveys cooperative Fish and
[00:38:44.970]Wildlife Research units. Yet another really neat partnership
[00:38:48.780]not only between the the USGS and the university, but through
[00:38:54.960]the Nebraska game and parks,
[00:38:57.840]Ronnie Green: division, commission and Mark wood. just
[00:39:00.540]mentioned I can't let this go. I know when Nebraska we're
[00:39:04.950]watching it get a little drier here. There's a little bit
[00:39:07.590]concerned about we're in a
[00:39:09.240]Mike Boehm: threat zero. I was going there next part
[00:39:11.370]Ronnie Green: of a drought first luckily the first one we've had,
[00:39:14.340]yeah in a while here. But the the key partnership we have hid
[00:39:20.070]and built at the university over the years as the National
[00:39:22.500]Drought Mitigation Center. That is the world leader in this
[00:39:26.640]field. No USDA Secretary Purdue relies on the Indian sea for
[00:39:32.190]disaster assistance for that trigger point at which that
[00:39:36.450]happens. All of us remember 2012 we're really well. The Indian
[00:39:40.380]seas Drought Monitor was on the news every night. nationally.
[00:39:44.340]Hopefully we won't be seeing that happen. But that's another
[00:39:48.900]prime example between USGS and NASA, the US Department of
[00:39:53.880]Agriculture that helps bring that science to practice.
[00:39:58.020]Mike Boehm: Yes, and not just the science Ronnie But back to
[00:40:00.600]Governor Ricketts. Your point, tying this back into the
[00:40:03.660]economics of things the US. The National Drought Mitigation
[00:40:07.440]Center and the drought monitor also drive billions of dollars
[00:40:10.770]of federal relief to our producers that are stressed
[00:40:13.950]stress situations. Well, we have five minutes. So I promise some
[00:40:18.600]of the folks in the audience that we would open this up. And
[00:40:22.140]so we'll take a break here and open this up for questions from
[00:40:26.730]those in the audience. If you would their microphone, there's
[00:40:30.720]a microphone here. I know that people can hear you because you
[00:40:33.960]all project but feel free to remove your mask, state your
[00:40:38.190]name, your affiliation, and where you'd like your question
[00:40:41.490]directed.
[00:40:48.750]Pete Ricketts: Okay, I know a lot of the people in the
[00:40:49.830]audience here you're not shy.
[00:40:54.300]Jeff Fortenberry: Professor Baines gonna call on you?
[00:40:56.160]Yeah.
[00:41:05.009]Pete Ricketts: Thank you, Paul. First question is always the
[00:41:07.679]toughest. And they are just
[00:41:09.329]Mike Boehm: locked into their social distancing mode, I guess.
[00:41:13.530]Paul Kenney: Good morning, Mr. Secretary, and welcome to
[00:41:15.150]Nebraska. I, on the Board of Regents, my name is Paul Kenny,
[00:41:19.260]and question I would have would, you know, 30 years ago, we would
[00:41:23.250]not know, anything like what MTV was or ethanol for the most part
[00:41:28.110]and, and we've transformed this, this product to the to the
[00:41:32.220]future and and now we're looking at in our business is how do we
[00:41:35.640]further break down the products that we produce where, you know,
[00:41:40.020]you, instead of just ethanol, there's a multitude of different
[00:41:42.780]types of alcohol, we can produce we can, we can break the sugars
[00:41:46.980]down before we ferment them. Also,
[00:41:52.710]Sonny Perdue: just the whole multitude of process engineering
[00:41:55.980]where it makes everything else we do more exciting and I wonder
[00:42:01.200]how how the administration stands on some of the
[00:42:03.960]development of the new ethanol generation new types of things
[00:42:09.360]that we're producing. Thank you. Again, Mike mentioned earlier
[00:42:14.160]and we talked a lot about food here. And food is that noble
[00:42:17.400]necessity, but we know agriculture is also about fiber
[00:42:21.300]and fuel. And, and as you mentioned, and there's a lot of
[00:42:26.700]research going on in the in the really the biochemistry of
[00:42:30.390]processing, even from cellulosic stock in that way as well. I
[00:42:36.450]think we'll crack that nut at some point in the future and
[00:42:40.290]provide a whole new way of fueling America and the world.
[00:42:48.360]But USDA is again aligned with research, both public and
[00:42:53.670]private. I've had a lot of conversation with Jeff one CEO
[00:42:57.600]of poet and their new technologies they are innovating
[00:43:02.190]along and, and moving forward in that way. And actually, you've
[00:43:06.720]seen recently some of the ethanol producers moving into
[00:43:10.170]other products that you described, as well. So this is
[00:43:13.680]part of that whole innovation agenda. And the great part about
[00:43:17.250]a capitalistic society that rewards innovation, creativity,
[00:43:22.440]risk taking entrepreneurship, is that there are rewards out there
[00:43:27.480]for those who saw the puzzle. And I think, again, the capital
[00:43:32.340]structure that we have in this country will enable that the
[00:43:36.030]ecosystem that we have developed from our federal government and
[00:43:39.750]our appropriators down to our university, universities and our
[00:43:45.750]private researchers. That's what that's what will solve the
[00:43:50.250]toughest issues that we have a feeding the world, fueling the
[00:43:53.400]world in a safe, environmentally friendly way, you know, going
[00:43:56.520]forward, so we're happy for this research. I think they're
[00:44:00.000]There's just amazing things out there that we can't even dream
[00:44:02.790]about that I think are coming back coming about as a result of
[00:44:06.780]what we're talking about here generally today.
[00:44:09.480]Pete Ricketts: Right, and just jumping on that a little bit as
[00:44:11.190]well. I think one of the cool things that we need to be
[00:44:14.250]thinking about with ethanol is, how do we make that into a
[00:44:17.100]feedstock for other types of chemicals. So obviously, we're
[00:44:21.960]using it, you know, to fuel to power our cars. But if you look
[00:44:26.640]at a barrel of oil, a lot of the margin of that is not what you
[00:44:30.360]put into your gas tank. It's all the other derivatives that come
[00:44:33.360]out of that distilling that barrel of oil into some other
[00:44:35.880]chemical. And to the extent that we can transform ethanol into
[00:44:39.960]that, to be able to do the same sort of thing or having a
[00:44:42.990]renewable type way of doing it rather than a petroleum based
[00:44:45.870]one. I think that's got tremendous potential. Obviously,
[00:44:49.050]we got to be cost competitive to be able to make that work. But
[00:44:52.170]the more that we can make sure that we're thinking about
[00:44:55.170]innovative ways to be more cost effective with that. I think
[00:44:58.650]that opens up that possible And then you mentioned some of the
[00:45:02.130]other innovation too, that ties back into sustainability is one
[00:45:06.840]of the cool things going on cargos campus up and Blair is a
[00:45:11.490]company that is taking dextrose sugar from corn, and then using
[00:45:15.360]that to feed algae to create omega three fatty acids. That's
[00:45:19.230]right, which then go into feeding salmon. And well why is
[00:45:21.900]that important? Well, because the way you feed salmon today's
[00:45:25.110]you out, catch other wild fish, you chop them up and you feed
[00:45:27.450]the salmon. But this would be a sustainable way of Cray that
[00:45:32.100]really important omega three fatty acid for salmons fish food
[00:45:35.790]that doesn't require you to go out and catching a bunch of fish
[00:45:37.770]and just chopping them up and feeding the salmon, you can do
[00:45:39.630]it in a way that, again, is sustainable and renewable. So
[00:45:42.540]that's the kind of cool innovative things that are going
[00:45:45.450]on here in the state that I think really meet that dual
[00:45:48.210]purpose of feeding a growing world and then being sustainable
[00:45:51.990]and finding new ways to conserve the resources we have here.
[00:45:54.750]Mike Boehm: So I'm going to jump in you could also feed them
[00:45:57.090]soybeans that are enriched in omega three fatty acids to get
[00:46:01.380]that nice pink color that we all love in our salmon. I want to
[00:46:05.100]take this opportunity to say thank you to each of you. Thanks
[00:46:08.250]for being innovators. Thanks for your leadership. At the end of
[00:46:12.210]the day, what I'm hearing is that this is really about
[00:46:15.030]producing food, fuel feed and fiber for a growing world doing
[00:46:18.660]it in a way that takes care of our water, our land, our natural
[00:46:22.110]resources or soil in a resilient manner, and taking care of the
[00:46:26.370]people and the communities and the families that produce that
[00:46:29.520]food, fuel feed and fiber. We are at our witching hour.
[00:46:33.540]Chancellor green.
[00:46:35.640]Ronnie Green: I know you're wanting to try and wrap up. I
[00:46:37.500]wanted to get one last comment in here and thank the secretary
[00:46:40.920]for this because I know he's been very, very active and as
[00:46:44.100]Lloyd and displaying all of this innovation that we are
[00:46:48.330]developing for agriculture relies on our ability for being
[00:46:52.680]science literate, and for being able to apply and use
[00:46:57.000]technology. Well, I know you've been such a leader in that
[00:47:00.000]William, appreciate that and I just want to publicly thank
[00:47:02.730]Mike Boehm: you here here science literacy, ag literacy,
[00:47:05.370]water literacy. So critical and moving ag innovation forward
[00:47:09.900]with that. Would you join me in thanking our panel?

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Sonny Perdue Panel Discussion

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