November 16, 2006
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) – U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said Wednesday he was heartened by the interest of the nation's universities in helping boost Iraq's farm sector.
Speaking at the annual convention of the National Association of Farm Broadcasters, Johanns said five consortiums, each consisting of five large universities, have submitted proposals to his department for creating an Iraqi extension service.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued a request for proposals after Johanns returned from a summer trip to Iraq, where he signed an agreement to pursue the Iraq Agriculture Extension Revitalization Project.
Under the program, U.S. land-grant universities will train Iraqis as extension agents to give their nation's farmers technical assistance, just as the agents do in the United States.
"The economic revitalization of Iraq in terms of job creation will be led by agriculture," Johanns said.
"When we think of Iraq, we think of oil. Oil is great, and it's bigger monetarily, but it doesn't create a lot of jobs," he added. "It is agriculture, and stabilizing and growing agriculture, that really is going to make the difference."
Johanns noted that Iraq has several regions suitable for growing grain crops.
"And they don't tend to have the severe security issues that you tend to have in the center of Baghdad or Fallujah," he said, adding that he did not mean to suggest that security concerns were nonexistent in agricultural Iraq.
The Agriculture Department is reviewing the proposals to decide which consortium will serve as its partner in the project, Johanns said.
On other topics, Johanns said the Democratic takeover of the House and Senate in last week's elections would not make a major difference as Congress drafts a new farm bill next year.
He praised the incoming Democratic chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, Rep. Collin Peterson of Minnesota, as a "good guy." Johanns also said Peterson and Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa, who will chair his chamber's Agriculture Committee, both are knowledgeable about farming and the farm bill.
"Agriculture is a lot less partisan than the rest of the federal government," Johanns said, adding, "No farm bill is ever going to be built as a one-man show."
Johanns took the occasion to announce that a fourth "energy estimator" for farmers – this one on animal housing – has been added on the Agriculture Department's Web site.
The estimators are programs for calculating the potential savings farmers can achieve in their energy costs by revising some of their methods and tools. Energy estimators for irrigation, nitrogen and tillage were posted earlier.
For animal housing, the new estimator evaluates the major energy costs in lighting, ventilation, heat and other aspects of housing poultry, swine and dairy cattle.