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USDA would like to give special thanks to the Farm Credit System, CHS, Inc., and the Economic Research Service for sponsoring the 2010 USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum Student Diversity Program.

Plenary Session and Webcast

Distinguished Guest Speaker
Agricultural Exports: A Growing Opportunity
Ambassador Ronald Kirk
U.S. Trade Representative
Washington, DC
Transcript
Webcast

Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food
Kathleen A. Merrigan
Deputy Secretary of Agriculture
United States Department of Agriculture
Transcript
Webcast for Merrigan, Miller, and Glauber
Webcast

2010 Foreign Trade Outlook
Jim Miller
Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services
United States Department of Agriculture
Transcript
Presentation
Webcast

2010 Agricultural Economic Outlook
Joseph Glauber
Chief Economist
United States Department of Agriculture
Speech
Presentation
Webcast

Plenary Panel
Sustainability, Stakeholders & Customers: Achieving a Healthier & Secure Future
Webcast

Moderator: Marie T. Ruel
Division Director
Food Consumption and Nutrition Division International Food Policy Research Institute Washington, DC

Observations of a Retailer
Walter Robb
Co-President & COO
Whole Foods Market
Webcast

Sustainability: A Transparent Dialogue with Your Customers
Fedele Bauccio
Chief Executive Officer
Bon Appétit Management Company
Presentation
Transcript
Webcast

The Supply Chain: Transporting Food, Sustainability
Richard Schnieders
Recently Retired CEO
Sysco Corporation
Presentation
Transcript
Webcast

Rethinking Agriculture in a Warming Climate
Nina Fedoroff
Science & Technology Advisor to
U.S. Secretary of State and to
USAID Administrator
Transcript
Webcast

Sessions and Speakers

Thursday, Feb. 18, 1:45 p.m.

Rural Communities Track

Boosting Rural Economies with Small Business
Development
Moderator: Victor Vasquez, Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development, USDA, Washington, DC

Building New Rural Capital Networks
Speaker: John Monson, Vice President, Rural Capital Networks, Apple Valley, MN
Presentation

Promoting Development in Africa with Micro Loans
Speaker: John Dunn, International Business Director, National Cooperative Business Association, Washington, DC
Presentation

How Community Development Financial Institutions Bring Hope to Reservations
Speaker: Tanya Fiddler, Vice President, Programs and Operations, OWEESTA, Rapid City, SD
Presentation

Conservation Track

Biomass for Energy & Conservation: Can We Do both?
Moderator: Mike Hubbs, Division Director, Ecological Sciences Division, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA, Washington, DC

Myths and Facts About Biofuels and Crop Residues
Speaker: Rattan Lal, Professor of Soil Science, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Presentation

Biofuel vs. Bioinvasion: Seeding Policy Priorities
Speaker: Joe DiTomaso, Assistant Extension Non-Crop Weed Ecologist, University of California-Davis, Davis, CA
Presentation  

Sustainability of Woody Biomass: From Slash to Hybrid Plantations
Speaker: Carlos Rodriguez-Franco, Director, Forest Management Science, Forest Service, USDA, Rosslyn, VA
Presentation

An Integrated Landscape Vision for Sustainable Feedstock Supplies
Speaker: Douglas L. Karlen, Research Leader, Soil, Water, and Air Resources Research Unit,
Agricultural Research Service, USDA, Ames, IA
Presentation

Nutrition Track

The Role of the Nutrition Safety Net in America
Moderator: Julie Paradis, Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, Alexandria, VA

The Public and Private Sectors–Partners To End Hunger in America
Speaker: Douglas O'Brien, Vice President, International Policy, Research and Planning, Feed the Children, Wadsworth, IL
Presentation

Strengthening the Nutrition Safety Net Through Nutrition Education and Community Engagement
Speaker: Helen Chipman, National Program Leader, Food and Nutrition Education, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Broadening the Nutrition Safety Net
Speaker: Lisa Pino, Deputy Administrator, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Food and Nutrition Service, USDA, Alexandria, VA
Presentation

Food Price Trends & Farm Income Track

The Impact of Food Commodity and Energy Costs on Retail Food Prices
Moderator: Phillip Kaufman, Agricultural Economist, Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC

Corn and Energy Prices in the Grocery Aisle
Speaker: John Urbanchuk, LECG LLC, Wayne, PA
Presentation

The Impact of Ethanol Use on Food Prices and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions
Speaker: Robert Johansson, Microeconomic
Studies Division, Congressional Budget Office,
Washington, DC

The 2010 Retail Food Price Outlook: The Impact of Commodity and Farm Price Changes on Retail Food Prices
Speaker: Ephraim Leibtag Economist, Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Organics & Sustainability Track

Improving Information on Organics
Audio

Moderator: Terry Long, Branch Chief, Market News Branch, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, Washington, DC

The Current State of Organic Production
Speaker: Joe Prusacki, Director, Statistics Division, National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Organic Reporting by Agricultural Marketing Service’s Market News—Current Reports and Future Initiatives
Speaker: Mike Sheats, Branch Chief, Market News and Analysis, Poultry Programs, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Information Needs from a Processor’s
Perspective
Speaker: Christine Bushway, Executive Director, Organic Trade Association, Alexandria, VA
Presentation

Information Needs from a Producer’s
Perspective
Speaker: Ron Strochlic, Executive Director, California Institute for Rural Studies, Davis, CA
Presentation

Thursday, Feb. 18, 3:45 p.m.

What Co-ops Can Do for Rural America
Moderator: Cheryl Cook, Deputy Under Secretary for Rural Development, USDA, Washington, DC

Improving and Expanding Rural Health with Co-ops
Speaker: Bill Patrie, Executive Director, Common Enterprise Development Corp., Mandan, ND
Presentation
The Wilson Report

The Food Co-op/Local Food Connection
Speaker: Clem Nilan, General Manager, City Market/Onion River Co-op, Burlington, VT
Presentation

Farmer Co-ops Help Schools “ Go Local”
Speaker: Tommy Fleetwood, Ag Marketing Supervisor, North Carolina Department of Agriculture & Consumer Services, Elizabeth City, NC
Presentation

Conservation Track

Lessons for the Future: 75 Years of USDA Conservation Programs
Moderator: Dave White, Chief, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA, Washington, DC

The Creation of the Federal Commitment to Soil Conservation: Hugh Bennett’s Campaign, the Depression, and the Dust Bowl
Speaker: Douglas Helms, National Historian, Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Cooperative Conservation: A Successful Partnership in Perspective
Speaker: Neil Sampson, President, The Sampson
Group, Inc., Alexandria, VA
Presentation

USDA Conservation Programs: Past, Present,
and Future
Speaker: Otto Doering, III, Agricultural Economics
Department, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Presentation

Nutrition Track

Nutrition, Education & Promotion & Its Effects on
Health
Moderator: Douglas O’Brien, Vice President, International
Policy, Research and Planning, Feed The Children, Wadsworth, IL

Behavioral Nutrition Research with Children
Speaker: Tom Baranowski, Professor of Pediatrics,
Leader, Behavioral Nutrition Group, Children's Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
Presentation

Integrated Research, Extension and Education Projects with Children
Speaker: Etta Saltos, National Program Leader; Human Nutrition, Competitive Programs, National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Nutrition Promotion and Its Effect on Health
Speaker: Rajen Anand, Executive Director, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, USDA, Alexandria, VA
Presentation

Food Price Trends & Farm Income Track

Farm Income Outlook for 2010
Moderator: Nick A. Walraven, Economist, Federal Reserve Board, Washington DC

Income Outlook for U.S. Farm Sector in 2010
Speaker: Ted Covey, Economist, Farm and Rural
Business Branch, Resource and Rural Economics
Division, Economic Research Service, USDA,
Washington DC
Presentation

The Well-Being of Farm Operator and Rural
Households
Speaker: John Pender, Economist, Farm and Rural
Household Well-Being Branch, Resource and Rural
Economics Division, Economics Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Credit Conditions for Rural Businesses and Farm Households
Speaker: Brian Briggeman, Economist, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Omaha, NE
Presentation

Organics & Sustainability Track

Sustainability & the Food System
Moderator: Carol Kramer-Le-Blanc, Director, Sustainable
Development Office of the Chief Economist, USDA, Washington, DC

Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food
Speaker: Kathleen Merrigan, USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Sustainability of U.S. Commodity Production
Speaker: Sarah Stokes Alexander, Director
Sustainability and Leadership Programs, The Keystone Center, Keystone, CO
Presentation

Policy Considerations in Revitalizing Local and
Regional Food Systems
Speaker: Ferd Hoefner, Policy Director, National
Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, Washington, DC
Speech

Starting Over: When Small Farms Become a
Really Big Deal
Speaker: Brian Snyder, Executive Director, Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Millheim, PA
Presentation

 

Dinner Speaker
Science, Sustainability, and Society
Roger Beachy
Director
National Institutes of Food and Agriculture
Chief Scientist
United States Department of Agriculture
Transcript

Commodity Outlooks

Grains & Oilseeds Outlook
Prepared by Members of the Wheat, Feed Grains, Rice, and Oilseeds Interagency Commodity Estimates Committees, USDA,
Washington, DC
PDF

USDA Cotton Outlook
James Johnson, James Kiawu, Leslie Meyer, Steven Neff, and Carol Skelly, USDA, Washington, DC
PDF

Livestock & Poultry Outlook
Joel L. Greene, Livestock & Poultry Analyst, World Agricultural
Outlook Board, USDA, Washington, DC
PDF

Outlook for Dairy Industry
Jerry Cessna, Senior Agricultural Economist, Agricultural Marketing Service, Dairy Programs, USDA, Washington, DC
PDF

Sugar Outlook
Stephen Haley, Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC
PDF

Friday, Feb. 19, 8:00 a.m.

The Changing Face of Farming
Moderator: Carol House, Deputy Administrator for Programs &
Products, National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA,
Washington, DC

Young & Beginning Farmers
Speaker: Ginger Harris, Information Management Group, Deputy Administrator for Programs and Products, National Agricultural Statistics Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Small Farm Characteristics & Production
Speaker: James MacDonald, Chief, Agricultural Structure and Productivity Branch, Economic Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Focus on Productivity, Finance, and Condition
of Mid-sized Farms
Speaker: Frederick L. Kirschenmann, Distinguished
Fellow, Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture,
Ames, IA
Presentation

Food Safety Track

Addressing Animal & Plant Health Concerns
in the 21st Century
Moderator: Ann Wright, Deputy Under Secretary, Marketing and Regulatory Programs, USDA, Washington, DC

Interface of Human, Animal, and Environmental Health
Speaker: William D. Hueston, Director,
Center for Animal Health and Food Safety, College
of Veterinary Medicine, St. Paul, MN
Presentation

Protecting American Agriculture From Invasive Plant Pests: Plant Health Emergency Framework
Speaker: David Kaplan, Director, Emergency
and Domestic Programs, Plant Protection and
Quarantine, Animal and Plant Health Inspection
Service, USDA, Riverdale, MD
Presentation

Putting Preparedness into Action
Speaker: David Marshall, State Veterinarian,
North Carolina, Veterinary Division, North Carolina
Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services,
Raleigh, NC
Presentation

Global Commerce Track

Impacts of Free Trade & Doha Agreements
Moderator: Prudence Gordon, First Secretary, Australian Embassy, Washington, DC

What Is Behind a Free Trade Agreement?
Speaker: John Wainio, Economist, Economic
Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Reality of Free Trade Agreements: A
Multilateral or Bilateral Choice?
Speaker: Paul Drazek, DTB Associates, LLP, Washington, DC
Presentation

How Important Is a Doha Development Agenda?
Speaker: Gregg Young, Assistant Deputy Administrator, Office of Negotiations and
Agreements, Foreign Agriculture Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Climate Change Track

Water, Drought & Climate
Moderator: Ann Mills, Deputy Under Secretary, Natural Resources and Environment, USDA, Washington, DC

Water Use for Irrigation: Trends and Conditions
Speaker: Robert Bass, Director of Census and
Survey Division, National Agricultural Statistics
Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Water Supplies in a Changing Climate World
Speaker: Michael J. Hayes, Director,
National Drought Mitigation Center, University of
Nebraska, Lincoln, NE
Presentation

Causes and Response to Water Shortfalls:
The California Experience
Speaker: Betsy Cody, Natural Resources Policy
Specialist, Congressional Research Service, Library
of Congress, Washington, DC
Presentation  

Should Water Institutions Respond to
Changing Water Supplies?
Speaker: Leonard Shabman, Resident Scholar,
Resources for the Future, Washington, DC

Commodities Track
Grains & Oilseeds Outlook
Moderator: Tim Rocke, Office of Global Analysis, Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA, Washington, DC

Grains & Oilseeds Outlook
Speaker: Max Fisher, Economist, Farm Service Agency, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Using the Special Sensor Microwave Imager to Monitor Surface Temperatures, and Wetness, and Its Application to Global Yield Forecasting
Speaker: Alan Basist, Senior Scientist, WeatherPredict, Consulting Inc., Raleigh, NC
Presentation

Global Economic Impacts of Sustainable Agriculture Certification
Donald Grubba, Executive Board Member, Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, Global Director Sustainability, IOI Group, Channonhon, IL
Presentation

 

Friday, Feb. 19, 10:00 a.m.

Risk Management Track

Risk Management
Moderator: Joy Harwood, Director, Economic and Policy Staff, Farm Service Agency, USDA, Washington, DC

The New Producer Safety Net: Disaster Programs and Average Crop Revenue Election
Speaker: Jonathan Coppess, Administrator, Farm Service Agency, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Federal Crop Insurance: Sustaining Prosperity
Speaker: William J. Murphy, Administrator, Risk Management Agency, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Reconsidering Risk Management in the Farm Safety Net: A Perspective for 2013
Speaker: Vince Smith, Professor of Economics, Montana State University, Bozeman, MT
Presentation

Reinsurance Industry's Climate Change Concerns
Speaker: Lambert Muhr, ReMunich, Munich, Germany
Presentation

Food Safety Track

Strengthening America's Food Safety System
Moderator: Jerold Mande, Deputy Under Secretary for Food Safety, Office of Food Safety, USDA, Washington, DC

Format: Roundtable discussion by speakers who will provide 2 minutes of opening remarks followed by a question and answer period.

Speaker: Alfred V. Almanza, Administrator, Food Safety and Inspection Service, USDA, Washington, DC

Speaker: Barry Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer, National Meat Association, Oakland, CA

Speaker: Mike Robach, Vice President, Corporate Food Safety and Regulatory Affairs, Cargill, Inc., Minneapolis, MN

Speaker: Ron Klein, President, Association of Food and Drug Officials/Program Manager, Food Safety and Sanitation, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Environmental Health, Anchorage, AK

Speaker: Sandra B. Eskin, Director, Food Safety Campaign, The Pew Health Group, Washington, DC

Speaker: Arthur P. Liang, Director, Food Safety Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HHS, Atlanta, GA

Speaker: Chris Waldrop, Director, Food Policy Institute, Consumer Federation of America, Washington, DC

Speaker: Robert Reinhard, Director, Food Safety, Sara Lee Corporation, Downers Grove, IL

Speaker: Stephen Sundlof, Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA

Global Commerce Track

Modernization of China's Agricultural Economy:
Implications for U.S. Exporters

Audio

Moderator: Maurice House, Deputy Administrator, Office of Global
Analysis

China’s Future Role in International
Agricultural Markets
Speaker: Colin Carter, Professor, Department
of Agricultural and Resource Economics, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA
Presentation

China’s Future Market for Food: Quality,
Convenience, Safety, and Eating Out
Speaker: Kevin Latner, Director, Agricultural Trade Office, Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA, Chengdu, China
Presentation

Resource Constraints and Future Food
Production in China
Speaker: Fred Gale, Economist, Economic
Research Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Climate Change Track

Climate Change: The Emerging Role for Agricultural Offsets
Moderator: Dennis Nuxoll, Director of Government Relations, American Farmland Trust, Washington, DC
Audio

Energy Policy, Climate Policy, and the Economics of U.S. Agriculture
Speaker: Brian Murray, Professor, Nicholas School of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Duke University, Durham, NC
Presentation

Putting the Hopes and Fears of Climate Change Legislation in Perspective
Speaker: Chad Hellwinckel, Associate Director, Agricultural Policy and Analysis Center, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN
Presentation

Climate Security and Food Security: On a Collision Course?
Speaker: Tim Searchinger, Research Scholar and Lecturer, Princeton University
Transatlantic Fellow of the German Marshall
Fund of the U.S.

Commodities Track

Livestock & Poultry Outlook
Audio

Moderator: Shayle D. Shagam, Livestock, Dairy, and Poultry Analyst, World Agricultural Outlook Board, USDA, Washington, DC

J. Dudley Butler, Administrator, Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration, USDA, Washington, DC

Livestock & Poultry Outlook
Speaker: Joel Greene, Livestock & Poultry Analyst, Office of the Chief Economist, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Why We Purchase From Niche Producers
Speaker: Douglas R. George, Quality Assurance and Purchasing Manager, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Denver, CO
Presentation

Success as a Niche Pork Producer & Marketer
Speaker: Kelly Biensen, Eden Farms, State Center, IA
Presentation

Friday, Feb. 19, 12:15 p.m.

The Importance of Plant Improvement to
Sustainable Specialty Crop Systems
Speaker: James McFerson, Manager, Washington Tree Fruit Research Commission, Wenatchee, WA
Presentation
Audio

Sugar & Sweeteners Luncheon
Moderator: Barbara Fecso, Economist, Dairy and Sweeteners Analysis Group, Farm Service Agency, USDA, Washington, DC

The North American Sugar Complex: Managing Risk in a Changing Environment
Speaker: Frank Jenkins, Jenkins Sugar Group, Wilton, CT
Presentation

Cotton & Fibers Luncheon
Moderator: Sharon C. Johnson, Senior Cotton Analyst, First Capitol Group, Roswell, GA

Current Issues in U.S. Cotton Futures Trading
Speaker Joe O’Neill, Former President, New York Cotton Exchange, Massapequa Park, NY
Presentation
Audio

Combined Grains & Oilseeds and Livestock & Poultry Luncheon
Moderator: Joseph Glauber, Chief Economist, USDA, Washington, DC

Speaker: Wesley Batista, CEO, JBS, USA, Greeley, CO
Transcript

Friday, Feb. 19, 2:00 p.m.

Energy Track

Developments in Renewable & Clean Energies
Audio

Moderator: Harry Baumes, Acting Director, Office of Energy Policy and New Uses, USDA, Washington, DC

Biomass-fired Electric Power Generation
Speaker: Clayton D. Cheshire, V.P., Ewing
Bemiss & Company, Richmond, VA
Presentation

Large-scale Thermal Solar Power Generation
Speaker: Fred Morse, Owner, Morse Associates, Inc., Washington DC
Presentation

The Future of Biofuels
Speaker: James Lane, Editor, Biofuels Digest, Chairman, American Biofuels Council, Miami, FL
Presentation

Food Security Track

Global Food Security: Where Do We Stand?
Moderator: Molly Jahn, Acting Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, USDA, Washington, DC

The U.S. Government’s Strategy on Food
Security
Speaker: Ann Tutwiler, Coordinator, Global Food Security Initiative, Office of the Secretary, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

What International Organizations Can Do to
Address World Hunger
Speaker: David Hatch, Deputy Director General; Strategic Partnerships, and U.S. Representative, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture
Presentation

A Roadmap for U.S. Leadership to End Global
Hunger
Speaker: David Beckmann, President, Bread for the World, Washington, DC

Eliminating World Hunger
Speaker: Scott Kilman, Agricultural Reporter, Wall Street Journal; co-author of Enough: Why the World’s Poorest Starve in the Age of Plenty,
Chicago, IL

Commodities Track

Cotton Outlook
Audio

Moderator: Stephen Paul Slinsky, Economist, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, Memphis, TN

The USDA Cotton Outlook
Speaker: Carol Skelly, Fibers Analyst, World
Agricultural Outlook Board, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation  

Structural Change in the World Cotton Industry
Speaker: Terry Townsend, Executive Director,
International Cotton Advisory Committee,
Washington, DC
Presentation

Prospects for a Recovery in U.S. Cotton
Production, 2010-2015
Speaker: John Robinson, Associate Professor and Extension, Economist, Cotton Marketing, Department of Agricultural Economics, Texas A&M University,
College Station, TX
Presentation

Trends in Cotton’s Share of World Fiber
Consumption
Speaker: Mark A. Messura, Executive Vice President, Global Product Supply Chain, Cotton Incorporated, Cary, NC
Presentation

Commodities Track

The Outlook for U.S. & Mexican Sugar Markets
Moderator: Elizabeth Berry, Director, Import Programs and Export Reporting Division, Office of Trade Programs, Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Audio

North American Free Trade Agreement & the Canadian Sugar Market
Speaker: Sandra Marsden, President, Canadian
Sugar Institute, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Presentation

The U.S. Beet Sugar Industry: Challenges to Survive in the 21st Century
Speaker: Inder Mathur, CEO Western Sugar Company, Denver, CO
Presentation

Financial Aspects of the Mexican Sugar Industry
Speaker: Nancy Obler, Amerra Capital Management, New York, NY
Presentation

Commodities Track

Dairy Outlook
Audio

Moderator: Michael T. Scuse, Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, USDA, Washington, DC

Dairy Outlook
Jerry Cessna, Senior Agricultural Economist, Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA, Washington, DC
Presentation

Sustainability in the Dairy Sector
Mark Stoermann, Project Manager, Fair Oaks Farms, Fair Oaks, IN

Challenges in the International Dairy Markets
Mike Brown, Dairy Economist, Glanbia Foods Inc., Twin Falls, ID
Presentation