Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture
Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences
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Secretary of Agriculture tours Poultry Center During a visit to the University of Arkansas, Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns supported plans to “boost our research communities” included in the proposed 2007 farm bill. He called the bill currently under consideration by Congress “a package of market-oriented reforms to current agricultural policies.” Johanns made his remarks April 12 during a series of stops on the Fayetteville campus viewing the research activity carried out by UA Division of Agriculture scientists and U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service scientists who work on campus. He started his tour at the John W. Tyson Building of the Center of Excellence for Poultry Science. “What is happening there is cutting edge and has the potential to change the world,” he said in a speech later in the day.
UA research faculty met with Johanns to discuss a few of their current projects. Billy Hargis, who holds the Sustainable Poultry Health Chair in poultry science, explained his work developing a poultry influenza vaccine. Hargis also demonstrated a biosensor for rapid detection of poultry viruses being developed by Yanbin Li, a poultry science professor who was unable to attend the meeting. A faculty team associated with the Division of Agriculture’s newly established Watershed Research and Education Center briefed Johanns on their project. Andrew Sharpley, a crop, soils and environmental sciences professor, said the center would promote watershed management practices to a wider public. The 235-acre center north of campus now under development will be geared to test best management practices for urban and rural environments. “We’ll use a systems approach to solving issues that are critical, and not just here,” Sharpley said. Johanns spoke to about 200 people at the UA School of Law in an address hosted by the National Agricultural Law Center based at the law school, where he reported on development of the farm bill. “Our top priority at the department has been on a comprehensive set of proposals for this year’s farm bill,” he said. USDA started the process by hosting forums across the nation listening to farmers and ranchers voice their concerns on energy, conservation, trade and other issues. Johanns called for the expansion of agricultural exports’ access to foreign markets. He explained that the middle class is growing in several developing nations and that those people are future customers for U.S. agricultural products. He said the proposed USDA budget would commit $1.6 million to renewable energy so that the nation can move closer to “buying energy by the bushel from the heartland rather than by the barrel from the Middle East.” After his campus appearance, Johanns visited a farm near Bentonville where he participated in a round table discussion with ambassadors from Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Johanns and the ambassadors discussed the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement’s provisions and its provisions for reduced tariffs. Johanns voiced his support for the pact. Guatemalan Ambassador Jose Guillermo Castillo said the agreement offered great opportunities for Tyson Foods and Wal-Mart Stores, both with headquarters in Northwest Arkansas.
External coverage of Johanns visit to Northwest Arkansas: |
