Deputy Administrator

Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service

Washington, DC

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen!

I feel great, how about you? You know, we live in a fantastic nation; for example, we all got out of bed this morning and not one of us had to worry about where the food for the next meal would come from. We live in a nation where less than 2% of the population produces the food for the rest of us, some 266 million, and yes, our farmers are ready to feed the world. This is also a testimonial for the capacity and excellence of our land-grant universities, our Cooperative Extension Service, and the USDA. You have done an outstanding job. Let me also congratulate each and every one of you for participating in, and making, this national small farm conference the success that it is.

It is my hope that when you leave this place in a few hours, you will leave with increased knowledge, renewed energy and enthusiasm, and a clarity of vision which will enhance local, state, and national small farm programs. I need not remind you that our small farmers are stewards of one-third of our farm land, and that our small farms represent 73% of all farms. It is important, however, that we remind decisionmakers of these facts and emphasize that U.S. agriculture needs all kinds of agricultural producers.

You should also leave this conference confident of the fact that USDA and in particular the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service is supportive of your research and extension programs. We are supportive of your programs which focus on the problems, concerns, and issues of small and part-time farmers.

Ladies and gentlemen, the topic I should be addressing is, "Land-Grant Universities in Support of Small Farm Families." However, I have decided to take the advice of Sir Winston Churchill, the great British Prime Minister, when he said, "Never speak to an audience who knows more than you do" and you certainly know more about our land-grant universities' support for small farm programs than I do. On that topic, let it be sufficient for me to say that the issues faced by our small and mid-size farms must be a priority for all our land-grant universities: 1890 land-grant universities, 1994 land-grants, and our 1862 land-grant universities.

So, instead of addressing the topic as listed in the program, I am taking the opportunity to ask you to look with me for a few minutes at the bigger picture, that is, some of the factors which will influence the future direction of agricultural research and extension.

In the interest of time, I will make brief comments on five major factors: public expectations and perception; global competitiveness; fiscal constraints and accountability; changing demographics; and advances in telecommunications.

The public investment in agricultural research is approximately $3.2 billion per year and $1.4 billion for cooperative extension each year for a total investment in agricultural research and extension of $4.6 billion. In return for this investment, the public increasingly expects us to address issues that are of concern to them, they expect to be involved with our priority-setting process, and they expect to see new science and technology that significantly improve the quality of life.

On the other hand, the public perception is that we often do science for scholarship and to promote our discipline rather than to address society's issues. The perception is that we give little research attention to the long-term consequences of agricultural acitivies that is, the impact of agriculture on the environment and on the quality of our water, soil, and air. The American public is no longer concerned with food availability; instead, the concern is for the quality and safety of food and the impact of food production on the quality of the environment. These concerns are, and will be translated into public policies that will affect the funding of agricultural science and, therefore, the future direction for agricultural research, education and extension.

Global Competitiveness

Another factor which will influence our future is global competitiveness. U.S. agriculture has for years enjoyed a positive balance of trade. This year, agricultural exports are expected to exceed $60 billion, with a positive balance of trade in excess of $20 billion. Yesterday, Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman said his goal is for agricultural exports to exceed $100 billion by the year 2000.

That is achievable; however, the competitive position that the United States now holds in international markets is a concern. The dominance the United States once enjoyed as an abundant supplier of low-cost commodities may no longer hold true. Other countries have begun to catch up, and in some cases have surpassed the U.S. agricultural productivity growth in certain areas. The result is a weaker competitive position. Global competitiveness will further intensify with full implementation of GATT, NAFTA, and with the new freedom-to farm provisions of the 1996 Farm Bill.

This global competitiveness should stimulate new lines of research and new extension program foci and priorities. The need to be more competitive internationally could lead us to focus on value-added products, new uses for agricultural commodities, and a systems approach to our research and extension programs;--"systems" in the sense of focusing on issues rather than disciplines, and in looking at the farm unit as a food, feed, and fiber production system, rather than as an isolated set of production issues.

Fiscal constraints and accountability are two inseparable factors that will also impact the future direction of agricultural research, education, and extension. The country is faced with an enormous fiscal demand, which is fueled by programs such as Medicaid, Medicare, welfare problems, the cost of cleaning up the environment, and the cost of maintaining an enormous defense establishment. If we look at the expense side of the ledger along with an ingrained resistance to increasing state or federal taxes and a deep worry that we are too much in debt with a serious deficit problem, there emerges a worrisome conclusion: that is, agricultural research, education, and extension will experience declining appropriations or at best flat budgets with marginal increases in special emphasis areas.

At the same time that we face declining budgets, there will be increased requirements to be accountable to the public and to contribute to the goals of public policy. The Government Perfor-mance and Results Act of 1993, (GPRA) aims at revolutionizing the way the Federal government does business.

The Act institutionalizes an accountability system based on performance measure-ment--setting goals and objectives and measuring progress towards achieving them.

In my optimistic view, publicly funded agricultural research, education, and extension will continue to deserve and receive public support. Why? Because we will meet the GPRA accountability standards and we will continue to address important public needs. We work in the public interest producing a public good; that will be enough to secure increased funding. The level of funding will also be influenced by our skills in demonstrating our accomplishments; by how those accomplishments impact societal issues; and by how effectively we work with the political system.

Changing Demographics

Changing demography is another factor to be considered. It will have a greater impact on education and extension programs than on research.

For example, the movement of the population from rural to urban and suburban areas has not only shifted the fulcrum of need but also shifted the political power base. This has prompted some Extension Services to increase their programming in urban areas. One result has been some criticism by the farm sector that extension is abandoning agriculture. This may or may not be the case, but the perception is still there.

Another demographic change is in the trimodal farm sector, with an increase in the proportion of small part-time operations, an increase in large commercial farms, and a decline in the number of mid-size farm operations.

Extension grew up with the mid-size farms and designed most of its programs and education information strategies to serve this audience. It will be necessary for extension to develop the capacity to serve this new trimodal agriculture. Hence the importance of this conference, which focuses on linking research and extension to meet the needs of small and mid-size family farms.

A third demographic change is the rapid increase in ethnic and minority groups. Members of these groups often need flexible professional development opportunities and education to help them keep up with changing family, social, cultural, professional, and work environments. Our education and extension programs will need to develop a variety of delivery methods and to make each option affordable and accessible to all ethnic and minority groups.

Advances in Telecommunications

The last factor which I will comment on is telecommunications. Advances in telecommunications comprise perhaps the greatest opportunity and challenge facing our education and extension programs, and could result in revolutionary changes in our university outreach programs. These advances provide the opportunity for our universities to become truly engaged with a number

of communities. Through a variety of delivery methods, the university now has the opportunity to reach all those who need its services. Satellites, cable, and fiber optics will increasingly be used for program delivery, and computers and wireless systems will become more important with the use of digital technology.

In summary, some of the factors which will influence the future of agricultural research, education, and extension include public expectations and perception, global competitiveness, fiscal constraints and accountability, changing demography, and advances in telecommunications.

Ladies and gentlemen, the bottom line was succinctly stated in a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences entitled, "Colleges of Agriculture at the Land-Grant Universities." The report stated that the extension system of tomorrow will have to be results driven; relevant to consumers and producers; science based; and more efficient in both delivery mechanisms and the use of public funds.

The question I will leave you with is,

Will our small farm programs of the future be results driven, relevant to consumers and producers, science based, and more efficient in both delivery mechanisms and the use of public funds? The answer, my friends, is dependent on you.

Thank you for inviting me to share in this conference, and good luck as you return home to revitalize your programs to meet the needs of our small and mid-size farms.

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