At the Young Farmers' Conference held at Stone Barns earlier this month, Agricultural Program Coordinator Carrie Davis of the Watershed Agricultural Council (at left) met USDA Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan, the Number Two to Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsak. Merrigan is a strong supporter of organic farming and has a progressive approach to securing our national food system and bolstering an aging farming population. Pictured with Davis and Merrigan are (from left to right) Carrie Davis; Kathleen Merrigan; New York State's USDA NRCS Public Affairs Specialist Ivy Allen; USDA NRCS State Conservationist Astor Boozer; and Joe Heller, USDA NRCS RC&D Coordinator.

"The Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture presented its third annual Young Farmers Conference: "Reviving the Culture of Agriculture," noted Heller, "a program especially for young and new farmers. This year's event had over 200 participants learning from agricultural luminaries, peers, and advocacy organizations through workshops, keynotes, and panel discussions." Keynote speaker, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Kathleen Merrigan, spoke about the future of agriculture in American and Secretary Vilsack's goal to add 100,000 new farmers every year. With the agricultural population only representing 1.8% of Americans, Merrigan stressed the need for farmers to band together and have one voice when reconnecting the general public with farming and its important role in their everyday lives.

Merrigan informed conference participants about USDA programs and she highlight NRCS's programs and their applicability to new farmers and new farming technologies. The new and upcoming farmers represent an epic transition in our future customers, the way they want to do business, the types of farming they are interested in, and exciting new ways the federal government can work with them.

Heller and Davis serve together on the at Lower Hudson-Long Island Resource Conservation and Development Council which facilitates sustainable growth that is both environmentally sound and socially equitable through promotion of a partnership between rural and urban conservation initiatives for the Council Area. The LHLIRCD serves the five boroughs, and the counties of Dutchess, Nassau, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Suffolk, Ulster and Westchester. Davis represents the farming interests of Croton Watershed farmer-landowners and can be reached through the Watershed Agricultural Council's East of Hudson Program

at (914) 962-6355.