NRCS Chief Gives Students a Larger Look at Agriculture
White speaks to students at the University of Missouri-Columbia about the importance of agriculture.
Jason Vance
Published: Feb 17, 2011
This week Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White visited the University of Missouri-Columbia as one of this year's College of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources' Robert O. Reich Executive in Residence. White, an alum of MU's Agricultural Journalism program, was extremely pleased for the opportunity to speak to students about agriculture.
"Essentially what I tried to convey to them as they begin their careers and work through their lives, is that agriculture is not only a vital part of our environment but is also an economic engine for our nation," White said. "We have a wonderful trade surplus with agricultural production, the environment is very central to ag, and I just wanted to give them a more wholistic view instead of compartmentalizing ag as one or the other."
White was very pleased with the response he received from the students.
"A lot of the youngsters are concerned about what they're going to see in the future and we talked some about that," White said. "I think one of the critical aspects is the growth of population we are going to see in the world; two to three billion more people by 2050. Doubling of our food production to feed those people and doing it on the same acres we have now is going to be a real challenge."
White's message to the students in regard to those challenges is that it can be done. We can be positive, have a healthy ag sector and a healthy environment and feed the world.
The Executive in Residence program was established through an endowment given by Reich's widow, Mildred N. Reich, who said that education is more than studying books and that young people need exposure to those with experience and knowledge.
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