March 7, 2005

Last week I hosted the 17th Annual Governor’s Ag Conference in Kearney and it truly was an exciting two days. We heard from a fantastic group of nationally-recognized speakers, and I want to extend a word of thanks to our speakers for taking the time to share their expertise with us.

I especially want to thank our friend and previous Governor, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Mike Johanns for being our keynote speaker. It was an honor to host him during his first official trip back to Nebraska and we are all grateful that he was able to attend and share his insight on the many issues facing producers across the country.

We were joined by 400 farmers, ranchers and industry representatives from across the state to hear from some of the nation’s foremost experts on issues affecting our agriculture industry, and I wanted to share some of the thoughts I took away from the event.

The theme for the conference was Leadership Today, Visions for Tomorrow. After hearing from the great line-up of speakers and visiting with many of the participants in the conference, I am more optimistic than ever about the future of agriculture in our state. The time spent at the conference has only served to reinforce that we have the leadership here in Nebraska’s ag community to leave a strong and lasting legacy for our children and grandchildren.

Orion Samuelson of WGN Radio in Chicago talked to us about the challenge of change and the need to tell agriculture’s story. He also shared his thoughts regarding new opportunities for increasing trade, as well as helping producers to make better use of marketing and technological tools. Ron Roskens of Global Connections, Inc. spoke about fanning a little spark into a great flame, recognizing that the past is behind us, and seizing opportunities.

While Orion and Ron encouraged our leadership, other speakers gave specific ideas of how we can work with them to position agriculture for the future. I look forward to working with farmers and ranchers, as well as other ag leaders to make policy decisions that affect the future of the agriculture and food production industry in a positive way.

There is a great deal to be positive about in agriculture today. Yes, we do have issues to face. BSE and the Canadian border opening, beef trade with Japan, funding reductions proposed for federal agriculture programs, and water management in Nebraska are all issues that I discussed with Nebraskans during the ag conference. I plan to actively and vocally protect Nebraska’s best interests.

Recently, I had a meeting with the Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. and we talked at length about the importance of Japan opening its borders to Nebraska beef. From our conversation, I believe Ambassador Kato recognizes the time has come to do just that. He has returned to Japan and assured me that he would take my message directly to the Prime Minister.

We know that our challenges are many in this increasingly complex world. Today’s farmers and ranchers are confronting issues and making decisions that producers of earlier generations might never have imagined. Technology has revolutionized the operations on even the smallest family farm and global competition has forever changed the way we think about the business of agriculture.

These issues and many others will continue to present challenges, but I know that we are better equipped than ever before to confront them together. Please know that my door is always open and that I hope to continue hearing from our Nebraska producers so that we can remain focused on making the best decisions for our agriculture industry.