Each week we explore the issues and trends that agriculture faces through frank and honest conversations with thought leaders across our nation. 

And who better to discuss this than the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture in President Barack Obama’s administration from 2009 to 2017, Tom Vilsack - along with the CEO of US Farmers and Ranchers in Action, Erin Fitzgerald. 

Secretary Vilsack is no stranger to serving our country. He began his political career as mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, then on to the state Senate and then as Governor of Iowa for two terms.  

As leader of USDA Vilsack worked to strengthen the American agriculture economy and create new markets for America’s farmers, ranchers and growers, provided food assistance to millions of Americans, carried out unprecedented conservation efforts, made record investments in our rural communites and led the efforts to provide a safe, sufficient and nutritious food supply. 

Sec. Vilsack now serves as the CEO of the US Dairy Export Council the non-profit, independent membership organization that represents the global trade interests of U.S. dairy producers, proprietary processors and cooperatives, ingredient suppliers and export traders.

Today we talk with two members of the Bayer Youth Ag Summit.

•Matt Foley, Program Director at Invest Nebraska, joins us to speak about the Youth Ag Summit. The summit gathers diverse agriculture leaders and youth interested in the industry to discuss the future of agriculture and how the next generation can inspire change.

•Davyn Surdidjo launched a startup in 2017 called Etani Agro Nusantara. Etani utilizes technology to liberate farmers in his home country of Indonesia from the grasps of middle markets which are far less regulated than those in the United States.

Former Secretary of Agriculture, Dan Glickman, chats with us about the future of the food and agriculture industry. New opportunities for farmers continuously emerge as consumers change how they think about their food.

Robert Bonnie from Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions joins us today on Farm. Food. Facts. He discusses his research which answers the question: is an urban/rural divide around the environment, and if so, what is it?

Anne Swanson, VP of Feeding America, and Carrie Calvert, Managing Director and Government Relations of Feeding America, join us today on Farm. Food. Facts. They describe how foodbanks are working closely with farmers to secure food to those in need during these drastic and unprecedented times.

Karianne Fallow, CEO of Dairy West, discusses their innovative Curds & Kindness program that directs surplus dairy products to those in need throughout Utah and Idaho.

Matt Coldagelli, Senior Vice-President at Edelman, discusses their Trust Barometer study that measures how trustworthy the public feels towards government, NGOs, business and media. The Spring 2020 update shows that amid the COVID-19 pandemic, government trust surged 11 points to an all-time high of 65 percent, while, even with a four-point increase, there is marked disappointment in how the private sector has performed during the crisis.

Doug Berven, Vice-President of Corporate Affairs at POET, the world’s largest producer of biofuels, discusses the importance of biofuels to sustainable agriculture and how this pandemic has created great disruption to the industry.

Curt Epperson, Business Development Director: Produce and Floral for Publix, and Thomas Torbert, Senior Sales Associate at Five Brothers Produce, discuss the impact of Publix’s program to purchase surplus produce and dairy direct from Florida farmers and donate it to Feeding America food banks during this pandemic.

Dr. Robb Fraley, former Chief Technology Officer at Monsanto, discusses the role biotechnology is playing in learning about the novel COVID-19 coronavirus, and how it can aid in developing treatments and a vaccine.