As we continue to work towards the new year and the need to reauthorize a Farm Bill, the Senate Ag Committee held a hearing yesterday on the research title of the 2023 Farm bill, and what programs are working. They looked at what changes need to be made and what could use more support. USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics, Dr. Chavonda Jacobs-Young, testified in front of the committee about what the USDA is doing with the research money and what things they see on the horizon as a priority for the new Farm Bill.
One of the many Senators on the Committee to question Dr. Jacobs-Young was Iowa Senator Joni Ernst. She brought up the fact that there is a lot of data and information being shared between the USDA and the collaborating land grant universities such as Iowa State University in Ames. With the rise in cyber attacks on agriculture entities like grain elevators and manufacturing companies, Senator Ernst wanted to know what plans were in place to protect what can sometimes be very sensitive data.
Dr. Jacobs Young talked about a few options they must make sure data is protected. She says it is first just being aware of the vulnerabilities that we have. Then it is about training and retraining people to protect our information at these hubs around the country.
Next, Senator Ernst asked about the work being done in getting farmers to be a part of carbon programs and make environmentally responsible choices for their operations. Dr. Jacobs-Young says that while they have come up with great, science-based options, adoption by farmers has been the sticking point to success. She says they need to continue with engagement, but also develop ways to make the information easy to access and understand. She said that Farmers don?t care how the technology and tools work, they just want to know what to do with the data they collect.
