BOB STALLMAN: "I'd like to introduce someone who has been a strong advocate for America's farm and ranch families over the past four years. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman is the first woman to serve in that place. She has had a multitude of challenges during her tenure at USDA. She worked hard to enact and implement the latest Farm Bill and the Healthy Forests Initiative. She's played a key role on trade issues and has promoted a level playing field for exports of America's farm products. Secretary Veneman also faced the challenges following the discovery of BSE in the United States and the food security concerns following September 11. Through it all, she has succeeded in ensuring that the United States continues to have the best and safest food supply in the world.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm Farm Bureau welcome to Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.

[Applause.]

SEC. VENEMAN: "Thank you. Thank you all for that very, very warm welcome. And thank you, Bob, for that very kind introduction. I truly appreciate your tireless commitment to the American Farm Bureau Federation and to American agriculture, as well as your service in many other ways including service on the Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for Trade. But especially thank you for your friendship.

"It is great to be able to join you all in Charlotte for your annual meeting this year. Now most of you will probably recall that last year I had every intention of joining you in Hawaii, but then came the cow who stole Christmas.

[Laughter]

"And instead I joined you from a giant video screen at your meeting.

"So this year not only do I get to see you all in person, but I have the added pleasure of being one of the warm-up acts for the Oak Ridge Boys.

[Laughter]

"We have a number of USDA team members here today from various agencies. In particular we have several employees here from our Rural Development mission area. As you know, USDA Rural Development has been involved in a major outreach effort over the past several months with a goal of making rural Americans better aware of the programs and services that USDA provides. The American Farm Bureau Federation is an important voice, not just for Agriculture but for future economic development opportunities in all rural areas.

"I'm also pleased to see your involvement which Bob discussed earlier, with America's men and women in uniform through your support of the Operation Beef Up Our Troops. Every day we see those who are enemies of peace and liberty, but the men and women who proudly wear our country's uniform are helping advance the spread of freedom and progress around the world, and so we offer them our prayers and the gratitude of a thankful nation.

[Applause]

"Not only is Farm Bureau a friend to those in the military but of course you are a great friend and advocate for farmers and ranchers all across the country. And I can think of no better place to deliver one of my last speeches as Secretary than here at the Farm Bureau because you have such strong partnerships with USDA, and I have personally appreciated your support.

"The arrival of the new year and the end of the President's first term are cause for some reflection and also for looking ahead. Looking backward and forward at the same time might seem contradictory, but these two impulses complement each other perfectly. After all, our history can help us shape the future.

"One of the most meaningful gifts I received for Christmas this year was a book compiled by my 80-year-old aunt. It was a copy of the diary of her late father, my grandfather, John Veneman, from June 1918 to February of 1919. It chronicles his journey from California to the East Coast and eventually to the European battlefields of World War I. But what was most striking was that this man who settled on the peach farm in California's Central Valley that would eventually become my home wrote in intricate detail about American agriculture as he traveled the breadth of the nation on that train with his military unit.

"He talked about the cattle ranches in Arizona and New Mexico and Texas, the cornfields of Kansas and Missouri, alfalfa in Illinois, the fruit trees of Ohio that reminded him of home, strawberries and oats in Wisconsin, dairy farms in Pennsylvania. Nothing escaped his attention.

"While many of the commodities produced in those areas are the same as nearly 100 years ago, American agriculture has undergone a revolution. In fact, it has experienced several revolutions in that time.

"Today the challenges are greater than ever, but so are the opportunities. As I reflect on my time as Secretary, I can say with very considerable pride that USDA has been a strong partner with American agriculture during historic times, and we have seen some historic successes.

"At the beginning of the Bush Administration we set out to assess the state of agriculture in our book, Food and Agriculture Policies, Taking Stock for the New Century. The book laid out principles for strengthening our food and agriculture systems and rural communities, pointing to major issues facing American agriculture. In many ways it reads like a blueprint of the challenges and the accomplishments that we would eventually see in the four years that followed.

"Most of the issues we raised are still relevant today. For instance, farmers continue to adapt to an increasingly global and dynamic marketplace. Competitors are emerging around the world, but so are new markets and opportunities. The Administration has engaged in a historic and aggressive effort to open markets abroad to U.S. agricultural products while working to maintain our existing ones.

"Those efforts contributed to record agricultural exports of $62.3 billion in 2004. Exports along with other factors including $8 billion in benefits to farm households over the past two years from the President's tax cuts and a strengthening economy worldwide have combined to put the farm economy in a historic position of strength.

"Net cash farm income was a record $69 billion in the year 2003. That was up $18 billion over the previous year, followed by yet another record for net cash farm income projected at $77.6 billion in 2004. Farmers equity last year also reached unprecedented levels for an estimated $1.2 trillion, about 9 percent above the year 2000.

"Producers are finding new niche markets for their products, and new ways of selling them. The 2002 census of agriculture showed that the value of agricultural products sold through direct marketing by producers increased 37 percent from 1997 to 2002.

"And alternative uses are becoming a more attractive option. Today fully 12 percent of our corn crop is going into ethanol production. Along with that, we've seen double-digit production increases over the past four years in biodiesel. And farmers are benefiting from a host of emerging uses such as bioplastics and pharmaceuticals, many of which are the result of advancements in biotechnology.

"Biotechnology holds transformational power for farmers around the world. In June of 2003 USDA hosted the historic Ministerial Conference on Agricultural Science and Technology in Sacramento, California. Our goal was to help farmers in areas where hunger and malnutrition are worst around the world, to accelerate their production through the application of technology-- from basic practices to the most advanced.

"We also supported follow-up activities such as regional conferences. Since that time we have seen important shifts toward acceptance of biotechnology including four West African nations that endorsed its promise and the approval of the first biotech crop variety in several years in Europe.

"Also on the international front, USDA remains an active player in direct food aid programs such as the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education Program which is funded at $87 million in 2005, an increase of more than 81 percent over 2004.

"We are working to provide assistance in the recovery from the tsunami that struck South Asia and Eastern Africa, which brought hardship, and suffering rarely seen before in our lifetimes. But it reminded us once again of the great generosity of the American people. We, along with many other nations of the world, responded with immediate assistance. Much of that assistance involves providing emergency food supplies made possible by the great productivity of our farms and our programs.

"Beyond the emergency activities and supplies, USDA is joining with other agencies of our government in planning for the longer term reconstruction and development of the devastated regions.

"Another technology is helping farmers around the world, and it is revolutionizing U.S. agriculture, and that is the computer and the Internet. USDA's E-government Initiative, which I announced at your meeting one year ago is making more and more of our services and programs available on-line. As just a few examples, producers can now get information about all of their farm and conservation programs in a single report called the Customer Statement; a feature called 'My USDA' allows users to customize our website and make it easier to navigate to the pages that are most useful to the individual producer; and thousands of producers are receiving millions of dollars in loan deficiency payments electronically through our newly announced ELDP Program.

"I was at the trade show a little earlier today, and I can tell you that if you visit the FSA booth, Booth 624, you can sign up to participate in our E-government program and sign up for ELDP. And so I hope you will all take advantage of that.

"We have also worked hard to secure more opportunities for under-served and socially-disadvantaged farmers. We swore in USDA's first Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, and we have increased funding for our Civil Rights Office by 46 percent since 2001. We've entered into partnerships such as an agreement with the Marriott Corporation to provide additional avenues for minority farmers to sell their products. And we have proposed reforms to help promote greater diversity on our Farm Service Agency county committees.

"The 2002 Farm Bill has also contributed to the strong position of U.S. agriculture today. As my tenure ends, I am pleased to say that the Department has fully implemented all of the major elements of the Farm Bill.

"Today I am pleased to announce the implementation of a remaining provision. USDA is publishing a final rule for the program that creates a preference across the entire federal government to purchase bio-based products, when practical-- based on price, availability and performance. This rule promotes energy independence and the use of environmentally sustainable energy from biological sources, while at the same time creating new demand for agricultural commodities and new business investment and job growth in rural America.

"Since the passage of the 2002 Farm Bill, USDA has provided more than $23 billion in farm program and conservation payments, and we have done so effectively and in unprecedented time with the help of thousands of dedicated employees in local offices all around the country.

"We have also delivered more than $15 billion in agricultural disaster assistance and worked to increase the number and range of risk management options available to producers.

"The Farm Bill is a key tool that is helping us address another challenge that confronts producers, the responsibility to wisely use our natural resources. The 2002 Farm Bill provided a historic 80 percent increase in conservation funding, which will contribute to conservation successes for years to come.

"Last year for the first time we were able to announce a net increase in wetlands on agricultural land, and a number of USDA programs will help us build on those gains. The Bush Administration has signed 15 new agreements under the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program, which will promote conservation activities on 600,000-targeted acres.

"In November we announced a major expansion of the Conservation Security Program with 200 new watersheds eligible for sign-up. And we are conducting several activities to promote carbon sequestration and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

"Other major issues that producers continue to face are threats related to food safety and animal and plant pests and diseases. Consumer confidence in our country remains very strong, but it is vital that we respond to current threats and anticipate new ones to maintain that confidence. In some cases we see changes in production patterns that are related to diseases rather than marketplace conditions such as the possible shifting of acreage out of soybeans this year due to Asian rust.

"These challenges have reached new proportions in the past few years, from the outbreak of foot and mouth disease in the United Kingdom just a few days after the Bush Administration took office, to 9/11, to the discovery of BSE in North America. Through our response to these issues we have protected the public health along with animal and plant health, and in so doing we have maintained consumer confidence in the safety of our food and averted major market disruptions.

"Under the Bush Administration we have increased funding for the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service by 86 percent and for the Food Safety Inspection Service by 26 percent. We have dramatically increased surveillance efforts and research into key pathogenetic agents and strengthened our protection infrastructure through laboratory networks and university-based Homeland Security centers of excellence.

"And just a few days ago Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge announced the completion of the National Response Plan. This plan will help strengthen our homeland security protections, including food and agriculture, and will improve our ability to respond to emergencies quickly and effectively.

"This year we are also providing $300 million for a Food and Agriculture Defense Initiative to further enhance our homeland security activities.

"Thanks in part to these efforts, American agriculture and American consumers are safer, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention attribute major declines in many food-borne illnesses to the policies of the USDA. And finally, in a food chain that is increasingly driven by the consumer, with more and more direct links to the producer, the epidemic of overweight and obesity is emerging as a major issue for production agriculture. The linkage was a major focus of USDA's Agricultural Outlook Forum nearly one year ago, last year. In response to this health crisis, consumers are demanding a wider array of product choices than ever before, creating new opportunities and challenges for agricultural producers.

"The recent low carb phenomenon led to significant shifts in consumption patterns, while demand and price levels for many commodities were directly tied to the changing dietary habits. Everyone has a role to play in responding to obesity, including America's farmers and ranchers, with the fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, lean meat and countless other nutritious foods that they produce.

"Very soon USDA along with the Department of Health and Human Services, will issue the Revised Dietary Guidelines for Americans to provide Americans with updated, science- based information about healthy eating habits.

"It is often said that the Chinese symbol for the word 'crisis' is a combination of the two symbols that name 'danger' and 'opportunity.' The most successful agricultural producers will be the ones who can anticipate the trends and turn threats into opportunities. Indeed, we have faced tremendous challenges together over the past four years, and we have shared tremendous successes. The strides we have made from the historically strong farm economy to our cooperative conservation efforts to strengthening our rural communities to protecting our homeland and the food supply, along with the help of our citizens-- all of these are important, not just to agriculture but to all Americans.

"When we improve the agricultural system, when our farmers and ranchers are successful, then the entire nation benefits. As George Washington said, 'I know of no pursuit in which more real and important services can be rendered to any country than by improving its agriculture.' And I am certain that my grandfather would have agreed.

"I hope that none of us ever forgets this, as we look back on our past with pride and ahead to a bright future with great anticipation. Thank you very much, and God bless you all."

[Applause.]