2nd Agricultural Marketing Outreach Workshop Release No. 0117.00 Remarks As Prepared for Delivery by Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Rich Rominger 2nd Agricultural Marketing Outreach Workshop Memphis, Tennessee April 11, 2000 "Kathleen Merrigan, thank you very much. And thanks to the Agricultural Marketing Service for all the behind-the-scenes work putting together this 2nd Agricultural Marketing Outreach Workshop. "This is partnership at its best. We're grateful to Southern University and A&M for again sponsoring this workshop with USDA. Special recognition to the 1890 and 1862 schools for working closely with us to build on last year's success. With us are Kirkland Mellad, Interim Dean and Research Director, Southern University ... and Jack Britt, Vice President of the University of Tennessee . thanks to both of you for your support. :This wouldn't be a workable partnership without the participation and backing of private industry .and I want to salute the community service providers here -- the wonderful young 1890 USDA scholars staffing the computer lab. These are dedicated young people from Southern University, Alcorn State, Tennessee State, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. ` "This workshop is also a model for cooperation within USDA. We need to do this more often. Agencies across the Department are contributing in all kinds of ways funding, know-how, people power to target the basic marketing needs of limited resource farmers. This strong cooperative effort says louder than words that USDA is there for the nation's small farmers, woodlot owners, and ranchers. This is the kind of cohesion Secretary Glickman had in mind last fall when he required USDA agencies to integrate small-farm issues in their work the first time small farms have received this kind of attention. "You gave us solid, positive feedback from last year's workshop and we appreciate that. It helps us know what you need and how to improve. You said it was important to have representatives from virtually every segment of the farming community involved. This helped participants identify specific markets for their products and hear from buyers themselves the quality attributes they want for specialty, premium price products. You had the chance to exchange success stories, and learn how others are setting their products apart and commanding premium prices both here and abroad. It was important, you told us, to discuss current regional and national issues facing limited resource farmers. You said the networking opportunities were among the greatest benefits and urged us to keep these workshops going. "OK! We heard you. Last year was a solid start and our aim this year is a conference that's even more practical and hands-on. This year, 175 small farmers are receiving travel scholarships to attend. Almost half of the scholarship farmers attending last year returned the survey questionnaire. That's a great percentage, and helped us tremendously to plan for this year. "For me, one of the best parts of the '99 conference was the chance I had, impromptu, to get together with a small group about 25 farmers. It was good to pull up some chairs, relax, talk personally, hear what they're up against, and what they need from us to keep going. "What they need, they told me, is constant learning. A big part of the battle in farming is to stay up-to-date, ahead of the curve, to learn as much as you can and keep on learning. "We realize that, and we also realize that in the past USDA hasn't done a good enough job of equipping our small farmers to stay competitive. It's bad enough that small farmers, family farmers, good people making responsible decisions, are pushed to the edge by floods, fires, droughts, and crop disease. "But for decades now small-scale farmers have been up against odds even tougher than Mother Nature. It's not a matter of cleaning up, replanting and starting over when the odds you're facing are economic ... increasing numbers of factories in the fields ,efficiencies of scale and expensive technology. "Last year I reported to you that Secretary Glickman's Small Farms Commission had made 146 recommendations to explore questions like: How can we ensure that small and beginning farmers have ready access to new production technologies, business and management skills and market expertise? "The Commission has completed its job. And now the Small Farms Advisory Committee, headed by Mississippi's Dr. Jesse Harness Director of Special Programs and Extension Administrator at Alcorn State University moves forward with the recommendations. If you're here today, Dr. Harness, would you stand? Working with Dr. Harness are Suzanne Bertrand and Calvin King, Sr., of Arkansas ... Karen Armstrong-Cummings of Kentucky ... and Harold Eugene Garrett of Missouri. "The Committee met for the first time in Washington in January, and meets again this month. It's laying out short and long-term goals and looking at disturbing trends reported in "A Time to Act," the report of the Small Farms Commission. "From 1910 to 1990, as industrialization spurred the growth of processors, packagers and marketers, the share of the ag economy going to farmers dropped from 21 to 5 percent. And small farmers got the shortest end of the stick. They owned 94 percent of all farms and ranches, representing 72 percent of all land in production, but only took in 41 percent of all agricultural receipts. USDA ACTIONS ON BEHALF OF SMALL FARMERS We can't turn around overnight a trend building for eight to nine decades, but we can work methodically to bring solid, practical assistance to small farmers. 'On the most urgent front, we've been helping farmers get through the recent tough times through emergency payments, more credit, and food donation programs. In January, Secretary Glickman announced $125 million in direct payments to assist all dairy farmers hurt by low prices. This will especially help smaller farms. 'We've made applying for small farm loans easier. And for the past two years, our Business and Industry loan program has set aside $200 million to finance projects that involve farmer-owned value-added co-ops and farmers' purchase of stock in startup cooperatives. We've funded 10 Cooperative Centers under the Rural Cooperative Development Grant Program, including one in Arkansas and one in Kentucky for management, technical and educational support. "We have a strong market development effort. Our $1 million-plus Federal State Marketing Improvement Program is matched with state funds aimed at small farms. "Congress has finally authorized mandatory price reporting for livestock. We fought long and hard for this because it should help level the playing field for small producers. "USDA has set up an Advisory Committee on Beginning Farmers. The average age of farmers in this country is 57. As a farmer myself, with three sons running the family farm, and grandchildren coming along, I regard this issue as critical. Let me tell you that this morning I met with the younger end of the spectrum. I had the chance and grabbed it to attend the student symposium and meet with high school students who represent, I can tell you, a very bright future for the family farm way of life. "But these young farmers, like all small farmers, need the benefit of outreach through training and education workshops like this to better manage risk, gain access to technical assistance, and keep abreast of marketing strategies. Last October, USDA and Lincoln University co-hosted the Second National Conference on Small Farms, in St. Louis a great success. And this October, USDA will follow up on this program here in Memphis with a Marketing Outreach Workshop in Modesto, California. "From fiscal 1994 through 2000, USDA has awarded $32 million for outreach and technical assistance to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers. From Lincoln University, to Alcorn State, to Kentucky State, and throughout the South, these projects give farmers access to USDA programs and services from exports to natural resources that in many cases help them get back into farming. "I want to thank Dr. Mallad of Southern University for his statement that probably says it best. He said, "We treasure the 2501 Outreach Project. It gives us more access to the community. There are pockets of the population that are overlooked by USDA. We serve those pockets through 2501." Thank you for that, Dr. Mallad. "Recently, Dr. Robert Zabawa of Tuskegee University documented the success of their outreach effort on behalf of USDA. Looking at specific counties in Alabama targeted by the "2501 Outreach Program," he found that of 12 counties, eight showed an increase in African American numbers between 1992 and 1997 ...two by as much as 46 and 42 percent. In Georgia, results also showed a dramatic increase in African American farm numbers in the same years, indicating that the Outreach Program is doing its job of providing services to African Americans. "And there are other signs that "2501" is having a positive effect. In February, USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service reported a small increase in the number of farms in the U.S. between '98 and '99. More important, they attribute this increase to the continued rise in the number of small farms, with the South Region showing the largest increase in farm numbers up by 2,300. LAYING THE GROUNDWORK FOR CREATIVE THINKING "We're clearly making headway, but to build on these advances we need fresh ideas and innovation. We know at USDA that small and limited resource farmers are some of our finest sustainable farmers. But we also know that the marketplace is changing at lightning speed. To preserve the family farm, we need to have long-term profitability. With farmers' margins squeezed more than ever by low crop prices, the need is great to capture more of the retail dollar. Small farmers need us to be creative on the marketing end. Let me tell you a little about what we're doing. "Right now, for the first time, USDA is offering grants to encourage producers to try innovative ways to market their products and boost incomes like farmers markets, or direct marketing to restaurants and institutions, or pick-your-own farms. "This is a cooperative effort within USDA. We're putting up half a million dollars to spur some bold thinking and claim a solid margin of the consumer dollar. "In terms of increasing value, producers can either market more directly to consumers or add value to the product through cooperative marketing. "This summer, USDA will kick off its fifth farmers market season right at our headquarters on the Smithsonian Mall. Nationwide, farmers markets have increased 56 percent in the past five years. We're proud of that. "There's much good work going on in the value-added arena, but one USDA- funded project is unique for focusing on what was once a booming industry in the south. In 1959, sweet sorghum farmers many of them in Mississippi produced over 2 million gallons of syrup. Over time, labor-intensive production, winter kill, and low market prices combined to cut that production to a fraction. This project is a first step to sustaining syrup and sugarcane production on small farms. It's providing ag professionals and producers with hands-on training in adding value through processing, and encouraging new products like sorghum cider, sugarcane cider and pasteurized juice. "With depressed prices and changing government policies, the time is right to take a hard look at the new opportunities offered by farmer-owned co- ops. They're called "new generation" or "new wave" cooperatives co-ops that offer ways to keep farmers where they belong -- in farming -- and to help rural communities through sustainable agriculture. "One study coming out of Michigan State University found that farmers rarely see the extra income generated by adding value to commodities after they leave the farm. Getting producers involved in processing through co-ops is critical to boosting profits. As producers become processors, they gain more of the control and more of the value of their product. Moving up the vertical integration ladder evens out some of the peaks and valleys of commodity prices. 'Through financial and technical help, USDA is committed to new cooperatives and farmer-owned enterprises that generate more income by linking producers to processing. "That philosophy's been key to the success of Delta Pride Catfish, a processing and marketing co-op that's helped turn a traditional Deep South favorite into a multi-million-dollar business extending far beyond the Mississippi Delta. "As Kathleen Merrigan will tell you, organic agriculture is another example of a great opportunity for small producers to build a solid niche for themselves and expand profit margins. Demand for organic products is soaring. The Secretary announced the proposed rule for the national organic standard in March, and I urge you to make your voice heard through the comment process. This rule will give an economic boost to a rapidly growing sector of American agriculture dominated by smaller, family-sized producers. " The organic rule is just one more example of USDA's commitment to the economic betterment of the nation's small farmers. But we're also doing things that have less to do with economics than with reminding this nation that our family farms are living chronicles of American history. "To honor families whose farms have contributed continuously to the nation for a hundred years or more ... to say thanks ... with great pride, we published a year 2000 calendar that celebrates the nation's century farms. They represent all areas of the country, all kinds of crops and production, and every possible story of survival, hardship, and pride in working the land. "They're farms like the Old Baker Farm in Harpersville, Alabama. At 91, Earl Vernon Baker still lives in the farmhouse where he was born and still farms the land he loves. Roy Thigpen from Mississippi joined us at USDA in December on behalf of his Dad, Chester. Their farm has been in Thigpen ownership since the late 1800s. "These farms are a window on the history and diversity of American agriculture. They're integral to our heritage and vital to our future. It's important that the nation knows this. And it's important that we continue with solid, practical workshops to provide the economics needed to keep our small and limited resource farmers in farming. "Thank you".