U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack recently visited Pennsylvania State University and spoke to a large group of faculty, students, researchers and media about the need for more agricultural education and research in America.
“The 150th anniversary of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an important time to reflect on the invaluable partnerships we have with land-grant institutions across the country,” Vilsack said at the commemoration. “Investments in research taking place at land-grant universities is vital to America so we can out-innovate, out-educate and out-build the rest of the world.”
The USDA partners with more than 100 state colleges and universities to train students in a wide array of agricultural fields. According to Vilsack, those universities have graduated more than 20 million students and produced scientific breakthroughs and increased agricultural productivity.