June 28, 2019 – United States Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue met with agriculture stakeholders at a Town Hall meeting in Watsonville, California on Friday, June 28th. He was joined by Representatives Jimmy Panetta (CA-20) and Doug LaMalfa (CA-01).
While technology innovations in agriculture were top of mind following Perdue’s attendance at the Forbes AgTech Summit in Salinas earlier in the week, the question and answer session focused on some of the more pressing issues facing growers—the need for increased investment in research, more support for small growers, the relocation of USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) offices, and the effect of current trade policies on farmers.
OFRF Executive Director Brise Tencer spoke about the potential of organic practices to sequester carbon, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and adapt to climate change. She asked Perdue about his committment to investing in research in this area. Perdue said all farmers should be adopting practices that sequester carbon and that both the private and public sector need to share the responsibility for investing in research. On the topic of trade, Perdue said everyone needs to play by the same rules. Regarding relocation of ERS and NIFA, Perdue said leadership would stay in DC.
Secretary Perdue wants to hear from you. Visit USDA.gov/tellsonny or call 1-877-508-8364, Monday through Friday, 7 am to 7 pm CT.