Richard Rominger, deputy secretary of the USDA, speaks to the largely student audience at the Alpha Zeta Northeast Regional Conference dinner in Riley-Robb Hall April 18. Denise Weldon/University Photography
U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Richard Rominger told Alpha Zeta fraternity members and their guests Friday to consider agricultural research an investment for the future. And he said the employment outlook for agricultural college graduates looks bright.
"Employers will be competing for agricultural marketers, dietitians, industrial scientists, livestock production specialists and food-quality technicians, to name a few," Rominger said. "Each year since 1995, there have been more jobs than qualified people in certain areas -- a shortfall of almost 5 percent of college graduates to fill jobs in the food and agricultural sciences."
Helping to celebrate the fraternity's centennial year, Rominger spoke at the Alpha Zeta Northeast Regional Conference dinner April 18 in Cornell's Riley-Robb Hall. Alpha Zeta is the national honorary, professional fraternity for agriculture students.
Rominger, a lifetime member of Alpha Zeta through his alma mater, the University of California at Davis, was invited to speak to the group by Bill Catania '00, an agricultural education major from Westfield, N.Y.
Earlier in the day, Rominger toured the College of Veterinary Medicine and met with several Cornell officials from the colleges of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Human Ecology. On Saturday, he toured Cornell's New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, N.Y.
The Clinton administration is committed to agricultural research, Rominger said. "We're staying very vocal about the proven value of research, extension and education."
International agricultural trade issues are also a major piece of the Clinton administration's strategy to strengthen U.S. markets, Rominger said, noting that "[agriculture adds to positive trade balance] more than airplanes, more than pharmaceuticals, more than any other sector of the U.S. economy. Agriculture's trade surplus more than covers every Honda, Toyota, you name it, that was imported last year -- with $7 billion to spare for Mercedeses and BMWs."
Conservation of our natural resources was another of Rominger's themes at the fraternity conference. He urged the young agriculturists not to forget the Earth.
"The environmental legacy -- as well as the challenges of production, trade, research and all of agriculture -- will go to you," he said. "There are no easy answers. Sometimes there are only questions. That's OK. As long as you're always restless, never quite satisfied and sure that there's got to be a better way."