To Members of the NASULGC System:

The Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee held a hearing yesterday morning on the nomination of Dr. Gale A. Buchanan to be Under Secretary of Agriculture for Research, Education, and Economics, U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Senators Present
Chairman Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Ranking Minority Member Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN).

Dr. Buchanan’s Opening Statement
In his opening statement, Buchanan listed all of his agriculture and research experience, beginning with obtaining a degree from the University of Florida, to his posts of Dean and Director of Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Georgia, with stops at the University of Alabama and Auburn University. He concluded by saying that he believes in American agriculture and that it is very important for the U.S. economy. He also said that he believes it is important for the USDA to work closely with the land-grant universities to further research, teaching, and extension and thereby help the American farm industry.

Opening Statement Transcript
www.nasulgc-bac.com/documents/FY2007/gabor.pdf

Written Testimony
www.nasulgc-bac.com/documents/FY2007/gabwr.pdf

Questions to the Nominee
Chairman Chambliss asked Buchanan in his experience, what problems have stood in his way in the past, and what goals does he have for this position, and further, what he would like to accomplish if confirmed.

Buchanan said he would like to do everything he can to strengthen research. He said it is important to figure out not just how to fund the research, but how do you find a way to work together between universities. He said that more importantly, he believes there should be collaboration within the universities that are currently doing research – meaning that any kind of researcher, not just an agricultural researcher, should help in the agricultural research if they feel that they have something to contribute. He concluded by saying that his singular goal was to build more collaborative relationships with anyone in the agricultural community that could help further the research.

Chairman Chambliss then asked Buchanan which are the greatest science issues he plans to concentrate on?

Buchanan said that food safety will continue to be a large issue, and that he has been trying to stimulate more interest for important energy issues, for example, “growing” our own nitrogen instead of extracting it from petroleum as is the current practice. He also noted that there is a never ending supply of new diseases, such as soybean rust, tomato rust, and citrus cancer. He said that the major challenge will be the fact that there is such a full portfolio of issues to handle.

Senator Lugar spoke for a few minutes about his excitement over the energy research that was being conducted today. He said that the energy issue is very important, and that it needs to be addressed now. He said that often times such research and technology is expected to take many years to develop, but that in the case of energy, the United States needs a solution as soon as possible and he then asked for Buchanan’s comments.

Buchanan said that as researchers, we need to be looking at every aspect of energy and the opportunity that it presents. Solar energy is something that needs to be heavily considered, and since involves producing something from the sun’s energy, it could be considered agriculture. Buchanan then mentioned that he took a group of farmers to Golden, Colorado, to look at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). From there they went to Nebraska and Iowa and Southern Minnesota and South Dakota. He mentioned that the latter regions have excellent opportunities for deriving energy from corn and the wind. He then mentioned that just as these states have corn and wind, the southwest has sunshine that can be used. He said that this was one of the hardest challenges, and again mentioned that nitrogen was a perfect example of how energy can be derived from alternative sources.

Senator Lugar then asked Buchanan if he believed that the agricultural community will run out of farmland or corn if corn were to be used as a source of energy, and if the agricultural community has hit its limit on the yields of corn, soybeans, and wheat.

Buchanan then offered that he believes that the best is yet to come. He mentioned that President Bush mentioned switch grass in his State of the Union address as an option, and that it is a viable option that needs to be further researched, as we need to find the enzyme that makes ethanol energy a reality. He also mentioned that in solving the energy problem, you don’t have to look just to the farms – but also to the cities, as they produce millions of barrels of waste that needs to be researched as far as turning it into a source of energy.

In closing Senator Chambliss said that he hopes to bring Dr. Buchanan's nomination to the Senate floor this week.

Fred H. Hutchison
Fleishman-Hillard Government Relations