Ed Kee

by

All Good Things Must Come to an End

All within one event, several chapters came to an end this past Friday, March 16th:

  • A breakfast series, called “Friends of Agriculture”, sponsored by the University of DE Cooperative Extension. For several years, anyone from the community could come “listen and learn” to ag oriented speakers at early morning breakfast meetings. Previous speakers have been Governor Jack Markell, Senator Tom Carper, and the most recent presenter: DE Secretary of Agriculture, Mr. Ed Kee. The title of the presentation was, “Brazil’s Ag-to the Horizon”. The Secretary toured the country with 18 Delaware farmers to experience Brazilian agriculture first hand. The take-away? Brazilian farmers are good at what they do; ranking 5th in the world in grain production. However, they are grappling with transportation, preservation, and regulatory pressures. Much more so than American farmers. The Secretary concluded with this statement: “The Delaware and American Family Farm System is the world’s best ag system and we will continue to compete and thrive!”
  • The moderator for the series: Dr. Jan Seitz. She is the Director of Cooperative Extension and is retiring as of next month. She promises to remain a Delawarean in retirement and from what I understand, she has initiated a scholarship fund with the DE Community Foundation for in state students. She’s a strong advocate for Delaware agriculture, extension, and 4-Her’s!
  • The main supporter of the series: Dean Robin Morgan. She is the current head of the University of Delaware College of Agriculture & Natural Resources but also is retiring at the end of this academic year (May or June?). Her replacement has not been selected or announced as of yet but I’m guessing the announcement will come soon.

All of these good things are coming to an end. The continuation of the breakfast series will be up to the new Dean but perhaps it is time to revamp the series? I hope to broach the topic with some of the boards I serve on. Youth involvement or some sponsorships could make it happen.  Let me know if you have any ideas: cvanderwende@hotmail.com.

by

How Will We Feed & Fuel Ourselves?

The brisk temperature didn’t keep many away as friends of Delaware Agriculture trickled into Harrington Fire Hall last Friday morning for an early morning breakfast. It was nice to see so many youthful faces present from 4-H State Teen Council representatives, and DE FFA State Officers, to Del-Tech FFA members.

Jan Seitz, Director of Extension, jumped right into the program by introducing the 2012 George M. Worrilow Award winner, Dr. Jack Gelb. Known for his poultry research and publications, he is the Department Chair and a Professor for Avian Virology at UD. Seeming very humble, Dr. Gelb spoke about his interest in agriculture without coming from ag roots. Noting a strong interest in science, he rode the “1st green wave” of ecology and attracted to ag because of the inspiring people in faculty and extension areas. He also felt he could make a difference in ag. His comments really resonated with me, especially after the recent Yahoo article which cited agriculture as the number one most useless degree. The author obviously never met Dr. Jack Gelb and most likely has never bit into a juicy tender chicken breast grown on the Delmarva Peninsula.

Scheduled to headline the program was the Governor, Jack Markell and our senior U.S. Senator, Tom Carper. The Governor was a no-show and the Senator was late but the show went on. Replacing the Governor, DE Secretary of Agriculture-Ed Kee, spoke on the new programs recently initiated for DE farmers such as DRIP and the Young Farmer Program. He also announced that the recent CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) regulations DE proposed were officially approved. Senator Carper finally arrived and reminisced on the environmental woes of the Inland Bays, which occurred during the Castle administration and derived the need for a Nutrient Management Commission. The members of this commission were to represent various sectors of all involved in nutrient management processes; requiring all to have a seat at the table and collaborate on a state plan. With the recent CAFO proposal being approved, Carper called this a huge accomplishment and wanted to honor the chairmen of the board, who have served since its inception. He presented a “Congressional Record” to Dave Baker, Vice-Chair and Bill Vanderwende, Chair (and my grandfather).

From Left: Sen. Tom Carper, Dave Baker-New Castle County Farmer, Bill Vanderwende-Sussex County Farmer

He ended by mentioning economic prosperity and that our economy is rebounding; not due to the usual consumer buying and housing industries but instead due to manufacturing and agriculture industries. He said he is hopeful about our future and we should only be concerned with 2 questions going forward: How will we feed ourselves and fuel ourselves? He stated agriculture has the answer in biofuel and efficiency. Isn’t it a shame the Yahoo author wasn’t sitting in the audience….?