I never would have believed as a candidate for the U.S. Senate that the U.S. government could buy GM without a hearing, with no vote, yes or no. There are billions and billions of dollars at stake here.
— Mike Johanns
The president has been a true friend of the ag industry, because he continues to invest large amounts of money at a time when savings is really the goal of the federal government to deal with the deficit.
One of the things that I always say about bioterrorism, whether it's ourselves at the federal level, folks at the state level, or folks in the private industry, we've done many great things, especially since 9/11.
In beef trade issues, we base our decisions upon science.
In this day and age when we do so much business in foreign trade, we need the ability to identify trace an animal very quickly, identifying where it came from - where it has been, and where it is at today.
Science is the international language, so when we are able to convince countries that good decision-making for human health and animal health is based upon science, that's a real success story for us.
Fortunately, when it comes to meat and poultry, I have the really wonderful situation of having producers and processors that produce and process a very high-quality product.
We asked ourselves and the world to base decisions on good science, and I really believe the United States can be the leader in delivering that message to our international trading partners.
We're going to do everything possible to make sure that food safety is always paramount, and that we work with the industry as aggressively as we can to make sure that we're paying attention to the food-safety issues.
The meat and poultry industries are outstanding industries, and it's going to be a very natural fit for me.
Growing up on a dairy farm, you certainly learn discipline and a commitment to purpose.
I meet with people in the industry on an ongoing basis.
Producers are so much better-educated in issues related to terrorism.
The world is really figuring BSE out, and that's positive.
My goal with the Canadian border is the same goal I have for Japan and Korea.
The industry is becoming very ready for animal identification.
We need to always be vigilant on the sanitary issues.
There is a certain amount of momentum that is achieved when one country after another reopens their borders.
We had Taiwan, Egypt, Lebanon, and Oman open their markets to our beef, and we're excited about that.
Food safety involves everybody in the food chain.
I ended up being the governor of a very ag state, Nebraska.
This president has said this has to be a priority for our nation, protecting our food supply from terrorist acts, so he continues to provide the funding that is necessary.
Today, we can tell people we have a testing process and facilities in place on a nationwide basis.
There is a tremendous amount of support for the approach we have taken, which again is to base our decisions on risk analysis and thoughtful scientific process.
The big producer is going to figure out how to deal with whatever the rules are, but the little guy who is running a few hundred units or maybe feeding 1,500 cattle a year, how will they ever comply with these requirements?
In 75 foreign countries, we have a presence in the USDA.
People enjoy our meat and our poultry, as I do as a consumer.
The goal is to normalize trade relations based on sound science and consumer protection.
When one cow was found with BSE in 2003, many of our trading partners closed their borders to our beef.
Our job is to ensure that meat and poultry products are safe, wholesome, accurately labeled for the benefit of the American consumers, and to make sure that they are in compliance with all federal laws.
On the professional side, those 18 years on the farm instilled my love for agriculture.
