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Cabinet Space
The
idea of creating a Secretary of Agriculture is
sprouting again, to the potential benefit of every
sector and region of Virginia.
Most
Virginians don’t sucker tobacco, milk cows,
fight Southern pine beetles or appreciate the
difference between the Commonwealth inspecting
meat and the federal government doing it. Nor can
they explain why the mixing of certain pesticides
and surfactants with fatty alcohols is a bad idea,
much less how avian influenza affects prices at
the supermarket, whether Virginia’s rainy season might help Christmas tree sales
or how commercial biotech operations might use
animals and plants as production facilities. But
luckily for Virginians, there are people who do
understand those things. It might be better still
if one of them were a cabinet-level Secretary of
Agriculture.
Recent
news reports, such as an item in the Augusta
Free Press, remind us of an effort begun
several years ago to create a Secretary of
Agriculture and Forestry for the Commonwealth. The
rationale summarized by legislative leaders, such
as Shenandoah Valley delegates Steve Landes, R-Weyers
Cave, and Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, is to elevate the
attention and resources given the services now
scattered among more than a dozen departments
within the Commerce and Trade secretariat.
Plowing
new ground doesn’t mean an existing field
isn’t productive. So, the movement toward a
separate secretariat is in no way a judgment on
the work of current Secretary of Commerce and
Trade Michael J. Schewel. To the contrary, efforts
by the Virginia Farm Bureau Federation and the
Virginia Agribusiness Council pre-date the
administration of Gov. Mark R. Warner, as do the
discussions of the Rural Prosperity Commission.
The Commission suggested a free-standing Secretary
of Agriculture and Forestry to increase the status
of these business sectors to a level commensurate
with their economic activity and the ability of
these sectors to compete in a global economy.
Virginia, the Rural Prosperity Commission chaired
by Del. Landes found, was one of only five states
without an agriculture position reporting directly
to the governor.
To
its credit, the Warner administration has worked
hard in its 19 months to capitalize on
Virginia’s strengths in a wide variety of
agricultural and forestry products and services,
from marketing Virginia wine to promoting Virginia-grown
products to improving state veterinary and
laboratory services. One goal of the
administration’s economic development plan is to
double
Virginia’s agricultural and forestry receipts over the
next ten years. As gubernatorial candidates in
2001, Warner and Mark L. Earley both pledged to
create such a cabinet post. But such a designation
was one of the first things to fall to budget
pressures in 2002. The administration and General
Assembly, instead, found themselves by 2003 having
to resist attempts to cut other cabinet
secretariats, but forced to trim agricultural
extension agents and services.
The
Commonwealth has had a department of agriculture
since 1877, but to paraphrase an adage, it has
preferred to “do without the eggs, rather than
listen to the cackle” of an agriculture
secretary. A quick click on the website of the
existing department shows why a Secretary of
Agriculture and Forestry might be valuable. In
short order one can click through to sections on
West Nile Virus, Foot and Mouth Disease and Avian
Influenza. Almost 200 Virginia
farms lost almost five million chickens and
turkeys in a 2002 epidemic. Don’t be surprised
to see a reference to the first case of eastern
equine encephalitis in a Virginia
emu.
Then
move on to sections on Agribusiness Development,
Ag Stewardship and the Virginia Century Farm
Program. Fast facts include about 236,000 workers
on 49,000 farms that cover a third of Virginia. Virginia’s farm acreage, in fact, exceeds the total farm
acreage of Maryland
and West Virginia
combined. Finally, one can browse Farm Diaries,
Animal Health Summary Reports, Food Safety, Farm
Dairies and Wine Marketing.
For
an even more up to date picture, sign up for the
“Dynamic Opportunities in Virginia AgriBusiness”
seminar September 10 in Lynchburg. In its promotional materials, the Virginia
Department of Business Assistance pegs production,
processing and distribution of agricultural
products at $35.9 billion in total sales. A kicker
is the estimate that agriculture adds $19.5
billion to Virginia’s gross state product and involves one out of
every seven jobs in the state. Top executives from
meat processing, food processing, wineries, green
and biotechnology companies will provide the
insights, along with Secretary Schewel.
Exactly
which departments and commissions might be
included in a Secretariat of Agriculture and
Forestry remain a matter of conjecture. A House
Appropriations Subcommittee on heard last fall
that such a secretariat might include existing
entities such as Agriculture and Consumer
Services, Forestry, the Milk Commission, the
Virginia Marine Products Board, the Tobacco
Indemnification and Community Revitalization
Commission and the Agriculture Council. Such a
secretariat might focus anew the 10 to 12 percent
of the Commonwealth’s gross state product
provided by farming, agribusiness, forestry and
forestry-related products.
After
trimming 4,200 state employees and 58 boards,
councils and commissions over the last two years,
the governor and the General Assembly have created
room for some new focus. As the
Farmer's Almanac might suggest, when wild animals
are more active than usual (as in General Assembly
campaigns), the weather's about to change. The Secretary of
Commerce and Trade certainly would remain fully
employed with responsibilities flowing from the
Board of Accountancy, Department of Business
Assistance, Housing and Community Development
Department, Mines, Minerals and Energy, Employment
Commission, Tourism Authority, Racing Commission,
Labor and Industry and other entities.
Virginia’s urban and rural areas and its technology and
agricultural sectors are building a common future
and there are places for all in the future
economy. Del. Joe T. May, R-Leesburg, for example,
is the founder of high-tech instrument maker EIT,
Inc. and flies his own plane. But the Northern
Virginia Chairman of both the House Science and
Technology Committee and the Joint Commission on
Technology and Science doesn’t mind telling
visitors, “I still know how to milk a cow.”
It
may have been a long time since most Virginians
lived on a farm or in a rural community of a few
thousand people. Young Virginians may never have
won a junior 4-H livestock judging competition or
a blue ribbon at the Rockingham County Fair. But
every Virginian enjoys open spaces and the fruits
of the land. The point at which diverse needs such
as food safety, farmland preservation, animal
husbandry, wood products, biotechnology, soil
conservation, good
wine and urban landscaping intersect is critical
to Virginia’s shared economic future. Sure
sounds like a full time job that could use some
cabinet space.
August
25, 2003
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