USDA Deputy Secretary: Developing Talent Pipeline Crucial To Tackling Agriculture’s Biggest Challenges

OLIVIA MCCLURE

BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA

With farming communities across America facing challenges ranging from the economic to the environmental, developing a talent pipeline of young people interested in solving these problems is critical to the future of agriculture.

That was the message Xochitl Torres Small, deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, shared when she visited the LSU campus April 1. Torres Small, who assumed the position less than a year ago, is touring land-grant universities to learn about how they are addressing key agricultural issues through research and education programs.

“Something I think we’re all focused on is what the future of agriculture looks like,” Torres Small said during a meeting with university leaders, representatives of governmental agencies and others at the LSU Foundation Building. “And as I think about that future and some of the pivots that farmers – who are some of the most important businessmen and women we know – have to make in recognizing some of the challenges they’re facing right now, our land-grant institutions are fundamental in supporting them.”

Universities not only train the next generation of agriculturalists, she said. They also help keep farms – especially small- and midsized operations – profitable through research in emerging areas such as drought-resilient crops, specialty crops and value-added agriculture.

“All of those come from not just a robust research community,” she said, “but also a research community that’s connected to the farm through extension.”

Matt Lee, LSU vice president for agriculture and dean of the College of Agriculture, told Torres Small about the LSU AgCenter’s network of 15 research stations and extension efforts throughout Louisiana. He highlighted initiatives such as multimillion-dollar grant projects on sustainable rice and sugarcane production and work to control invasive species damaging cropland and the coast.

Extension agents play a vital role in getting that information to those who need it most, said Mike Strain, commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry.

“When you look at Louisiana, there’s very little time between what they discover in the lab and what the farmers have in the field,” he said.

Torres Small said more people must be recruited to carry on land-grant institutions’ research and extension missions and to work in other aspects of agriculture – including at the USDA, where she oversees more than 100,000 employees. 

The average age of the American farmer is 58, and the workforce at her agency and many other agricultural entities is aging too, she said.

“We depend on this relationship with you,” she told the LSU administrators, to recruit new hires.

Torres Small also wants to get young people interested in returning to farms and rural communities, which across the country are in dire need of investment, she said.

Lee touted the AgCenter’s youth programs, which help spark interest in agricultural disciplines and provide valuable educational opportunities, especially in rural areas.

“We have, in my estimation, one of the very best 4-H programs in the country,” Lee said.

Others from the AgCenter and College of Agriculture told Torres Small about internship and research programs for undergraduate students at LSU. Allen Rutherford, associate dean of the college and director of the LSU School of Renewable Natural Resources; Michael Salassi, director of the Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station; and Tara Smith, director of the Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service all spoke about the benefits of these hands-on learning experiences.

“The departments and the college over the last several years have worked very hard to make sure that, as much as we can, every undergraduate student has an internship experience,” Salassi said. “When I was going through school, they didn’t have those. You really didn’t have a good vision of what sort of job opportunities – whether it was in private industry or federal government or a university setting – were out there.”

Torres Small agreed, adding that people often don’t realize the wide array of careers – including coveted foreign service jobs – that are possible at agricultural organizations, universities and government offices. Torres Small herself worked as an attorney and served a term in Congress before finding her way to the USDA.

Roy Haggerty, LSU executive vice president and provost, noted that Louisiana and Torres Small’s home state of New Mexico both have large minority populations and unique geographies, cultures, histories, even foods. States like these are important recruiting grounds for universities and employers as they work to better reflect the American population, he said.

“We can help build these pipelines of people who are more representative,” he said.

Later in the afternoon, Torres Small met with about two dozen students, encouraging them to consider careers in the agricultural sector as well as do their part to get word out about the importance of farming, research and education. She also fielded questions from the students, who sought job advice, wanted to know her thoughts on international trade issues and asked about USDA loans, grants and other funding sources. 

While in Baton Rouge, Torres Small also visited Southern University, another institution in the land-grant system. ∆

OLIVIA MCCLURE: LSU AgCenter