00:02 - Well, good morning and welcome, everyone.

00:04 - My name is Troy, and I am, the dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences

00:08 - here at Penn State.

00:09 - And I want to welcome you and everyone online to this town

00:12 - hall with our secretary of AG, Secretary Russell Redding.

00:17 - We do these town halls twice a year.

00:19 - One here, one at Farm Show.

00:22 - And I can tell you at Farm Show, I'm a lot more relaxed

00:24 - because all the work, all the work is on this shoulder here.

00:27 - So I feel the same.

00:30 - These are excellent times for us to hear

00:33 - from our stakeholders about, some of the priorities that are out there.

00:37 - Discuss the current state of Pennsylvania agriculture, including emerging issues,

00:42 - opportunities, and provide updates on the college

00:44 - and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

00:46 - Again, our primary goal here this morning is to gather your insight

00:50 - as stakeholders, agricultural leaders and experts

00:54 - on the needs and priorities that should guide and focus our efforts.

00:58 - Of the respective organizations in advancing Pennsylvania agriculture.

01:02 - Just before we begin this, this is a hybrid event,

01:06 - with attendees participating via zoom as well as here in person.

01:11 - And, we are recording this session.

01:14 - So after some, brief opening remarks by the both of us,

01:18 - the majority of the time will be spent on,

01:21 - answering questions and getting input from you, the audience.

01:24 - And this will take place after the opening remarks.

01:27 - We really appreciate those of you who included questions in your registration.

01:32 - And we will address those questions first and hopefully be able

01:35 - to get to additional questions as well.

01:38 - For those of you online, you can,

01:40 - feel free to enter additional questions.

01:43 - But please use the zoom Q&A link, not the chat link.

01:48 - The Q&A link, on your zoom room, it's easier for us to track the questions,

01:53 - and we'll help make sure that we can get your questions answered.

01:57 - So with that, I think we should get right to it.

02:00 - First, I would like to welcome Secretary Redding here today.

02:03 - He needs no introduction in this room.

02:05 - Governor Tom Wolf nominated Russell to serve as the 26th Secretary of Aid

02:09 - for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 2015,

02:13 - and governor Josh Shapiro reappointed him in 2023.

02:18 - We are very proud that Russell is a graduate of our college

02:21 - with a bachelor's in IT AG.

02:22 - Education and a master's in ag and Extension education,

02:26 - and an additional degree in agribusiness management, Executive Program.

02:31 - Our college has enjoyed a long

02:33 - and productive, relationship with Secretary Redding and PDA.

02:38 - And I can tell you, Secretary Redding has been a good friend.

02:41 - He has helped mentor me into this new role.

02:43 - He's helped give me, ideas of where I need to focus attention.

02:47 - And it's been a really good partnership.

02:49 - So I appreciate, all that you've done for me.

02:52 - Secretary.

02:53 - I think we're all grateful for his leadership.

02:55 - Secretary Redding and his team have been a tremendous asset.

02:58 - And Russell, thank you for joining us today

03:01 - on behalf of Pennsylvania Agriculture.

03:02 - And I will turn it over to you, for a couple of opening remarks.

03:06 - Dean, I thank you.

03:07 - And, I appreciate the kind introduction.

03:12 - I also appreciate the air condition.

03:15 - Thank you.

03:16 - Just to say welcome to all.

03:18 - I look forward to this week, every year,

03:21 - you know, to get reacquainted, to reconnect, to sort of challenge myself

03:25 - professionally, to think about the issues, to hear directly from folks

03:29 - who are out there doing all kinds of amazing things that keep this industry,

03:34 - progressing and gives us a chance to sort of celebrate

03:36 - it here during our progress days.

03:38 - I know that that only happens because there are folks who are,

03:41 - as I look around, who are doing all of their pieces that combined

03:45 - allow us to really celebrate, an industry that's important to,

03:50 - to us, to, to see its growth and challenges,

03:53 - but also to collectively really think about what it is

03:57 - that we need to do to support, to support agriculture.

04:02 - I say often that it's not going to stay here just because you and I like it.

04:06 - It'll stay here if somebody sees opportunity in it.

04:09 - And the opportunity piece is really important for us, right?

04:12 - We want folks to see the opportunity that exists that has existed.

04:18 - We want them to see that and feel that and be part of this conversation

04:22 - about what agriculture looks like in Pennsylvania and the opportunities

04:26 - that it presents, across the full spectrum of production.

04:31 - But we do that, with a lot of people, a lot of partners.

04:34 - Most important in that partnership is Penn State and the College of Sciences.

04:39 - And Dean, and his team.

04:42 - There is nothing that we do in the department

04:44 - that doesn't have an intersect with the College of Sciences.

04:48 - I mean, it shows up in obvious ways,

04:51 - at times, and then less so in others, but always sort of present.

04:55 - And I think about, the recent experiences

04:58 - around the high path avian influenza,

05:01 - right, where you have both the crisis to manage

05:04 - and then you've got the everyday part of that sort of stewardship

05:08 - and work to make sure that that industry both recovers and, continues to grow.

05:14 - Penn State was there, in both the research,

05:18 - side of that, in the on the ground

05:20 - work of of composting and teaching our producers how to compost and manage,

05:25 - you know, the evolution of that, virus into the dairy industry

05:29 - and the quick response from Penn State and the research side on and on.

05:33 - I can go on in that.

05:34 - But at the end of the day,

05:35 - that was a really important sort of relationship with us.

05:39 - There are many others to include our conservation work.

05:42 - I mean, I often cite the work that Penn State did sort of ten years ago

05:45 - that set up this conversation about what it is

05:48 - that we're doing in terms of conservation on the ground.

05:51 - Right, and making sure that we're getting credit

05:54 - at the farm level for those conservation practices.

05:57 - That foundational work was done by Penn State and the team here.

06:00 - We have a new center of, plant excellence

06:04 - that recognizes the importance of plant agriculture in the state.

06:08 - And it joins a suite of of other centers of excellence.

06:12 - Right. That that, we're proud of.

06:14 - But we also recognize there's a lot of plant agriculture here,

06:18 - from organic to conventional.

06:19 - And how do we represent that?

06:21 - How do we present the the needs to to the industry, etc.?

06:24 - We can talk talk more about that, this morning,

06:28 - but I want to, sort of point two final points.

06:31 - One is,

06:33 - we are in extraordinary times.

06:36 - I mean, I say it every day when I wake up and I look at the headlines.

06:42 - Trying to process what it is that we do.

06:45 - And how do we do that?

06:47 - How do we respond, react at the same time?

06:50 - Not lose sight of,

06:53 - the long view, which I think is a hallmark of this industry.

06:56 - It's easy to be distracted, right?

06:59 - Distracted by a crisis or distracted by another inject of something.

07:05 - But we have to sort of find that equilibrium between sort of those moments

07:08 - where you've got to respond and think and and look and act.

07:12 - At the same time, look forward.

07:14 - So asking everybody, here, this part of this work

07:17 - is to really think about, what does that future look like?

07:22 - Who is our farmer?

07:23 - What does agriculture look like in the years to come?

07:27 - And how do we respond at the same time?

07:30 - To those local opportunities to to our communities and citizens

07:34 - of the state at the same time, know that we're linked inside a world market,

07:38 - and we're seeing those, this moment today and then final.

07:42 - And part of that is we need your voice.

07:46 - I say it every day.

07:48 - I'll be your second best advocate.

07:51 - I need you to be your best advocate

07:53 - and to be an advocate, a way to talk about the importance of this industry.

07:56 - Talk about why it matters that we have, that progress days.

08:02 - Why does it matter that we've got an industry

08:03 - that's $132 billion in every year?

08:07 - Why do we worry about, the forest products industry and such?

08:12 - Because it matters.

08:13 - And being advocates for why it matters and what matters is really important today

08:19 - more than ever, is that we lend our voice to what matters.

08:23 - Make sure that we stay true to our values right?

08:26 - The things that we believe

08:27 - are important to the future of this industry in Pennsylvania.

08:30 - That's what we do.

08:31 - And we do that in full partnership with our friends,

08:34 - here at Penn State and the College of Acting.

08:36 - First among them was a dean. So thank you.

08:39 - Thanks, Secretary Redding, appreciate those remarks.

08:41 - And certainly I knew this coming in, but it's more and more apparent to me

08:46 - how important the relationship is between Penn State

08:50 - and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

08:53 - I would just say, you know, last time I spoke to you last year,

08:57 - I was only a few weeks into this role, and it seems like a blink of an eye.

09:00 - And here we are, having finished my first year.

09:04 - The great thing about that is now I'm doing everything for the second time,

09:07 - which is, a little bit more comforting than the first year.

09:11 - But I would say that the first year has moved very quickly.

09:15 - I came into this role with a tremendous amount of gratitude

09:19 - for the opportunity to serve agriculture, to serve this great institution.

09:23 - And I wake up every morning reminding myself

09:26 - how lucky I am to be able to do this job.

09:29 - And I still have a tremendous amount of excitement and energy,

09:33 - to be able to do what I can to advance agriculture

09:36 - in the broad mission that we use here in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

09:40 - This first year has been, been doing a lot of traveling, listening, learning.

09:46 - And the great thing is both with our external stakeholders,

09:49 - everybody is willing to help educate me on the things that I need to know.

09:54 - So many people, many represented in this room, have stepped up

09:58 - and helped me understand the things that I need to know.

10:01 - Our mission is broad. Our college is broad.

10:05 - We have a lot going on, and I've learned a lot in this first year.

10:09 - And then when I think about internally

10:11 - and in this room, I'm looking around and seeing members of my leadership team.

10:15 - Every one of them has worked hard.

10:17 - They've overlooked my flaws and they've worked on them.

10:20 - They've tried to make sure that I was prepared to serve, agriculture better.

10:25 - And so that's been tremendously gratifying.

10:28 - Every week I learned wonderful stories of impact,

10:32 - of how what we do in the college has impacted

10:36 - people's lives here in Pennsylvania and beyond.

10:38 - And almost every one of those stories has a link to the Pennsylvania Department

10:42 - of Agriculture. And it just reminds me,

10:46 - we were born

10:48 - as a land grant from a legislative action from the state of Pennsylvania.

10:52 - We are a functionality of the state of Pennsylvania

10:55 - and we are strongest

10:56 - when we work closely with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

11:00 - And we are lucky to have the best secretary of back in the nation.

11:04 - We have an administration in Pennsylvania that keeps agriculture at the forefront.

11:09 - And, the various members of the cabinet who I have now

11:11 - met with are constantly working to improve agriculture,

11:16 - to drive economic prosperity, to help, keep our rural communities

11:20 - resilient and to serve the citizens of the Commonwealth.

11:24 - And it's become more clear to me

11:25 - than I ever could have imagined how important it is.

11:29 - This partnership we have with with PDA.

11:34 - You know, there are certainly challenges,

11:36 - facing Penn State, facing Pennsylvania, the nation and the world.

11:42 - Those of you who know me know that I go through life.

11:44 - As an optimist, I always say when it comes to challenging

11:48 - times, people always forget,

11:51 - human ingenuity and resilience.

11:53 - And if we think about the 170 year history of Penn State

11:56 - and what we have done, in support of agriculture, I am comforted

12:01 - every day to know I don't care what challenge comes down the pipe.

12:05 - We will be here and we will develop solutions

12:08 - for those challenges, and we'll do it in partnership, with our stakeholders,

12:12 - with our farmers and with state and local governments.

12:16 - And so,

12:18 - challenges.

12:19 - That's always what happens.

12:21 - It's how you respond to those challenges that defines

12:24 - whether you're going to be great or not.

12:25 - When I took this role, I said I wanted this

12:27 - to be the greatest college bag in the nation, built on Pennsylvania's

12:31 - needs, taking advantage of Pennsylvania's strength.

12:34 - And I continue to work towards that effort.

12:37 - So some of the things that we are concerned about,

12:40 - some of the challenges we face, include increasing climate volatility.

12:45 - Our scientists are developing climate resilient crops, precision irrigation

12:49 - systems and soil health practices to withstand extreme weather events.

12:54 - We certainly have a growing biosecurity concerns, and we are always

12:59 - at the forefront and have concerns about ensuring food safety.

13:03 - We discover new knowledge to help avoid, outbreaks,

13:07 - to help detect them early, to help contain and eradicate new threats.

13:13 - We support research for early detection and rapid response programs.

13:16 - The secretary mentioned our work in partnership with PDA

13:21 - on avian influenza, but this includes crop pests,

13:24 - livestock diseases, food borne pathogens, as well as building over the last

13:29 - ten years, one of the strongest one health microbiome centers in the world

13:34 - that is, drawing people to here because to Penn State,

13:37 - because we understand how interconnected our systems

13:41 - are, our animal systems, our natural environments,

13:44 - our farming systems, our human systems, they're all interconnected.

13:48 - You have to understand them individually, but

13:50 - you also have to understand them as systems.

13:53 - And so we're really proud of the of the project, progress we've made there.

13:58 - We have to build supply chain resilience.

14:00 - I think

14:01 - we came through Covid and understood we have some weaknesses in supply chains.

14:04 - So we help producers adopt technology, diversify markets

14:08 - and protect against cyber and logistical destructive, disruptions.

14:13 - And certainly as Pennsylvania's land grant education as as are

14:17 - the core of what we do and workforce development is the reason that we do it.

14:22 - Our education mission ensures Pennsylvania has the skilled farmers,

14:26 - the scientists, the agribusiness leaders, policymakers

14:30 - that are needed to help keep food, food flowing and to restore

14:34 - and manage our abundant natural system here in Penns Woods.

14:40 - We live in a knowledge rich environment, but we still need decision

14:43 - support tools to help producers be more successful.

14:46 - We need people.

14:47 - As secretary, Redding has pointed out, that can translate this knowledge

14:52 - into actions that fit the diversified agricultural systems,

14:56 - the business environment that we have here in Pennsylvania and the northeast.

15:02 - Going

15:02 - forward, we are very carefully looking at emerging threats,

15:05 - trying to make sure we keep our eyes over the horizon.

15:08 - Certainly, things like water scarcity are going to be issues going forward.

15:13 - Soil degradation, crop, yield losses, loss of biodiversity.

15:18 - They all threaten our long term productivity.

15:21 - Any time global instability happens,

15:24 - this could constrain, our markets and foreign control

15:28 - over critical inputs are things that we must constantly be aware of

15:32 - and develop strategies to respond to.

15:35 - Cyberattacks and data breaches are becoming more

15:37 - and more part of everyday life, and we need to do a better job

15:41 - of not only detecting them, but blocking them so we can make sure

15:45 - we can adopt these technologies, but not put our farming systems at risk.

15:50 - And finally, I would say the college's integrated

15:53 - research and extension model positions us,

15:57 - to to

15:58 - respond to these challenges before they escalate into crises.

16:01 - Again, you only have to think back over our 100 year, 170

16:06 - year history and look at the things, the challenges we faced to not.

16:10 - You can come away with a tremendous amount of optimism.

16:13 - There is such potential in Pennsylvania agriculture,

16:16 - and we are dedicated to helping you achieve those goals

16:20 - for your individual farms, your businesses and your communities.

16:24 - I want to thank you again for your attendance,

16:26 - and I'm looking forward to the discussion this morning.

16:30 - So we're going to jump right into the Q&A

16:32 - session.

16:40 - So there were

16:41 - a number of prepared questions which were I'm going to ask.

16:44 - And then Secretary Redding and I are going to look each other

16:46 - for a long moment and decide who's going to go first.

16:51 - Question one

16:53 - the 2025 Agriculture Economic Analysis, released earlier this year by Team

16:57 - Pennsylvania, highlights ten year trends

17:00 - in economic performance of Pennsylvania's agricultural sector.

17:04 - Our Penn State and the Department of Agriculture leveraging this data

17:09 - to address the workforce, infrastructure and other gaps identified in the report.

17:14 - If so, can you speak how?

17:17 - And I think I'll let you go ahead and start with that.

17:20 - How convenient.

17:24 - That's nice.

17:24 - Well, appropriate.

17:25 - So, just to say, and I appreciate the question, whoever I ask

17:29 - is that we have been on this journey, for a number of years.

17:34 - I mean, beginning with the impact study we did in 2018.

17:37 - That really was a conversation in 1617 about sort of what agriculture was.

17:42 - And PA and I know it's, every time that I talk about it,

17:46 - it's it sounds so obvious,

17:49 - but it went to the heart of really a fundamental question for Pennsylvania.

17:54 - And that is what is agriculture and who is agriculture?

17:58 - And that led you to where is agriculture?

18:00 - And ultimately it identified, both of those and responded to those questions.

18:05 - But it also, helped us sort of think about what does agriculture need, right.

18:09 - That became the PA farm bill

18:11 - that most are familiar with and made really strategic investments in,

18:15 - you know, farm transitions and organic, excellence, etc..

18:20 - And then, we began to sort of refine that.

18:23 - And what I would say

18:25 - between the ag impact study and the state's economic development

18:28 - strategy, that was that was released, we began to really dig deeper.

18:32 - And the deeper part was, the the analysis that is referenced in the question.

18:37 - Right.

18:37 - And that was very specific to looking at,

18:41 - sort of the big picture of egg and start, you know, tailoring and

18:46 - and focusing on,

18:48 - understanding the sectors a little better,

18:51 - understanding the interconnects between different sectors.

18:54 - Right. It's easy to talk about,

18:56 - agricultural, processing of food processing as an example.

19:01 - That's a very complicated area. Right.

19:03 - Because you can't just look at a number, you need to look at the relationships.

19:07 - So the analysis was really an attempt to sort of look at that

19:10 - type of, of work and analyze sort of the industry further.

19:15 - It was also designed to really, help us,

19:19 - you know, measure a little bit against other states.

19:21 - Right.

19:22 - So how do we compare to in Ohio or in New York?

19:25 - What is our strength in production?

19:28 - We know that we've got it, but we also are clear, clear sighted in that there are

19:33 - there are clearly gaps in the value chain, in every sector has those gaps.

19:38 - Right. The forest products industry has a gap, right?

19:40 - The food processing, dairy, each of the sectors.

19:43 - So it's a long answer to say that the analysis really was,

19:47 - we knew what the big picture is.

19:48 - Let's let's come down and begin to look by sector,

19:52 - a little more and look at relationships between sectors,

19:56 - and to close it out, to say that it's the next installment,

20:00 - is to really look at the strategic, plan for Pennsylvania agriculture.

20:05 - Right?

20:05 - It's a strategic industry that needs a strategic plan.

20:08 - We don't have one.

20:10 - We just sort of gather up pieces, and there's things out here that are

20:13 - that are being done that are really strategically, you know, sort of and pieces to,

20:19 - to the whole in terms of the industry.

20:21 - But what about the overarching strategic vision?

20:25 - And that's what we're working on right now.

20:26 - So there's a journey here, in the analysis analysis piece sort of fits

20:30 - in, really informing, the first part about, what,

20:36 - what the industry size, scale, etc., but then the gaps in the strategic vision.

20:41 - So, thank you for the question. Yeah.

20:43 - And I would just say I've been so grateful that, team PA engaged leadership,

20:48 - from the college in, in the discussion and we, we got a presentation of the,

20:54 - of the, economic analysis, and I've read it now a couple times.

20:58 - Yeah.

20:59 - And every time I look at it, I learned, something more this, you know,

21:02 - we are, the research and development arm for agriculture

21:06 - in the state of Pennsylvania, and we are scientists.

21:08 - And scientists need to be driven by data and what this effort

21:12 - did was bring data to the table, and it identified areas, where we have

21:17 - opportunities and identified areas where there are challenges.

21:21 - But I can tell you how we're using it.

21:23 - We are using it to inform our strategic plan.

21:26 - We are right in the middle of a strategic plan.

21:28 - We hope to have it, completed by the, middle to late fall semester.

21:33 - And that strategic plan will help direct the resources

21:37 - we have to try to have the biggest impact here in Pennsylvania.

21:41 - And of course, we are a land grant with, with, global mission.

21:44 - So everything we do starts in Pennsylvania, radiates

21:48 - out in the northeast, around the nation and around the globe.

21:51 - So we never forget that, that mission.

21:53 - So I've found this, this, plan particularly helpful.

21:57 - And if you,

21:58 - if you connect that with the farm bill that we have here in Pennsylvania,

22:02 - if you connect it with the governor's, economic development

22:05 - plan, we see clearly

22:08 - you have helped guide us in terms of where we need to do our work.

22:12 - Again, there are things that only we can do

22:14 - as your land grant and we are paying attention.

22:16 - And this kind of data is so very, very helpful.

22:19 - And we look forward to the analysis that's going to come out of this.

22:22 - We have a strong group of economists in our AG and economics,

22:26 - sociology and education department.

22:28 - I know the department head is here somewhere. Dave Abler.

22:30 - We are looking at these data, trying to find out where

22:33 - we can fill those gaps and how we can we can support agriculture.

22:36 - So it's been tremendously, tremendously helpful.

22:39 - It's a good sort of demonstration, I think of of, you know,

22:42 - we've undertaken a strategic, planning process.

22:46 - You initiate it that is Dean, to sort of look strategically what the university

22:49 - and the college is doing.

22:51 - It how they sort of fit together, what to to the point

22:54 - earlier that this is built on the frame of a partnership.

22:57 - Right.

22:57 - So how do we do what we do, what the expectations set forth about what

23:01 - responsibilities the department has?

23:03 - What what, partners are out there who can actually execute on,

23:08 - parts of that plan?

23:10 - Two of the points, I would say one is the other piece of the analysis

23:13 - really revealed, the extent of exports and imports to Pennsylvania,

23:19 - and has taken on new meaning in recent months with the tariff

23:23 - discussion is that it's on our strategic, asset list.

23:28 - I mean, I put it there because when you think about,

23:32 - the global,

23:34 - reach of both the university but the global reach of the industry

23:37 - is that 95% of the available

23:40 - stomachs are someplace other than the United States of America.

23:44 - So we're 5% of the world's population.

23:48 - We're in the food business or in the fiber business, right?

23:51 - We want people to buy things and put them in their homes or consume them.

23:55 - How does that happen?

23:57 - So having three ports, in the state is really critical, right?

24:01 - That's our access to those other parts of the world.

24:04 - So the export piece, took on new meaning, both in terms of the analysis about

24:08 - what moves and who are the partners are, but also, those assets are here.

24:14 - We need to invest in them.

24:15 - We need to recognize you've got Philadelphia and Pittsburgh and Erie.

24:18 - They're all really, really critical pieces of the infrastructure.

24:22 - So that again, got got I think, pulled out in the analysis

24:26 - but also now allowed us to really look at and, with some intention

24:31 - around what that export market or import market is, for Pennsylvania.

24:36 - And I would just say in times of change,

24:40 - sometimes people can get frozen and they don't act.

24:43 - And, there are going to be real opportunities out there.

24:48 - And, and we were grateful to be,

24:51 - invited to go on a trade mission, last year.

24:54 - And we continue to look at ways to help develop,

24:57 - international

24:58 - markets, new products, and support to industry

25:01 - so they can grow that access to those port systems is essential.

25:05 - And it really places us in a really good position in terms

25:09 - of being able to grow, our agricultural industries.

25:12 - Yeah. All right.

25:14 - The next question up is and I'll take this one to start with,

25:17 - I think, what do you see as the greatest opportunity with AI to develop

25:22 - new innovations that will revolutionize Pennsylvania agriculture?

25:26 - And as a reproductive biologist and,

25:29 - an immunologist, I can mean avian influenza.

25:32 - It can mean artificial insemination.

25:34 - But in this case, I think they're talking about artificial intelligence.

25:38 - And we're going to go with that one. Okay, good.

25:39 - All right.

25:43 - It's pretty clear,

25:46 - that those people who adopt these new technologies

25:49 - effectively are going to win

25:52 - in the new, economic environment.

25:56 - And it's important that we provide

26:00 - the educational tools, the training tools to help our stakeholders

26:05 - utilize these technologies to their maximum benefit,

26:10 - make sure that they're right for the operations we have.

26:12 - We have such a diverse agricultural ecosystem here in in Pennsylvania.

26:17 - It's different than the big farms that are out in the Midwest.

26:21 - We have different challenges, and we need Pennsylvania solutions.

26:25 - We need Pennsylvania applications for AI.

26:29 - So I'll talk about students first.

26:31 - We are working to try to make sure

26:34 - our students understand and are confident,

26:38 - in these new,

26:41 - computational tools and AI, machine learning,

26:44 - these large language models that basically put

26:48 - PhD level information

26:50 - on your device in three seconds.

26:54 - So our students need to graduate,

26:57 - able to effectively use those tools, able to ethically use those tools.

27:02 - But it doesn't stop there.

27:04 - One of our scientists says all the time, artificial intelligence

27:08 - without human intelligence is just artificial.

27:13 - And we have to develop students that bring something to the table,

27:17 - that translational capability that you talked about yesterday,

27:21 - the ability to use that information, to review that information,

27:26 - to make sure it's correct.

27:28 - And then what's left?

27:29 - Why would I hire somebody if I've got this AI tool that can tell me everything

27:34 - I need to know, it's going to be about what you bring to the table,

27:39 - your ability to lead, to bring teams together to help drive creativity.

27:44 - These are the things it's sort of back to the future.

27:47 - It's coming back to the human.

27:49 - This technology is letting us

27:51 - focus on what it is really that you uniquely bring to the table.

27:55 - And our undergraduate education team that's been led by Tracy Hoover,

27:58 - I'm looking at right now, has been doing a great job for more than 25 years.

28:03 - And and we will continue to do that.

28:05 - I don't think we're moving fast enough because the technology is moving

28:09 - very fast.

28:10 - And I would just finally say that,

28:13 - you know, we do education in the classroom, but you all here know

28:18 - that there's a tremendous amount of education and training that takes place

28:21 - through our powerful extension network across the Commonwealth.

28:25 - And we have a great leader in Jeff Hyde and our new associate

28:28 - director of programs, Chris Hauser.

28:30 - Back there, who are looking at our extension program,

28:34 - programs and seeing how we can do a better job.

28:37 - And very soon

28:38 - we're going to be talking about a tool that we're going to be rolling out

28:41 - that is going to be that decision support tool

28:43 - that will help both our session extension professionals, but more importantly, help

28:48 - the people who consume our our information to make sure they have accurate,

28:53 - vetted information that directs them

28:56 - to solutions, not a list of 15 web pages

28:59 - that they have to screen, scan through to figure out what they want.

29:02 - So I'm very excited about that.

29:04 - And you can catch Jeff at some point.

29:06 - He can tell you a little bit more.

29:07 - We hope to tell you more about that in the near future.

29:10 - Secretary.

29:11 - Yeah. Thank you.

29:12 - And a couple of points.

29:13 - One, I think it's in part sort of unfortunate,

29:17 - you know, the how things get termed and named and, and described.

29:21 - Right.

29:21 - The artificial intelligence versus, you know, the artificial intelligence

29:25 - is really predicated on human intelligence and the integration

29:28 - of the human sort of thinking and information.

29:33 - I also think

29:34 - about sort of the, a AI both as ag innovation.

29:38 - I think about the AI in terms of integration.

29:41 - Right?

29:42 - Artificial integration, the integration of data is really the value of AI, right?

29:48 - It helps helps to pull in the the data sets that that we know are there.

29:53 - Right. There's things out there. Two good examples.

29:56 - But one I just think in the conservation space, I mean there's

29:59 - so much land level,

30:03 - data that it's really difficult sometimes to sort of understand,

30:07 - you know, the, the soil science and the soil health aspects

30:11 - and all of those sort of dimensions of soil alone.

30:15 - I saw that.

30:15 - No, till, not all eyes.

30:17 - Right. You're looking at that soil piece.

30:19 - But as an example in the use of artificial intelligence is to pull in the data.

30:24 - Right.

30:25 - Talking to folks yesterday and, you know, there's,

30:30 - data sets from NASA

30:33 - that has looked at soil and water across the world.

30:36 - We never talk about that.

30:38 - And the use of that data set for purposes of the Chesapeake Bay.

30:41 - Right.

30:41 - I don't think about that data set as a possibility, but what's in it?

30:45 - What does it hold?

30:46 - What story does it tell

30:47 - that would help us do a better job of managing, of stewarding?

30:51 - I look at the forest pest issues and any number of areas where you applied,

30:56 - very complicated interlocking, data sets.

31:00 - I think that's the value, right.

31:02 - Two examples.

31:03 - One, and I was blown away and I was in Europe, on, on a, some trade

31:07 - work, standing at an orchard and a drone

31:11 - was flying this, this orchard block.

31:14 - And I said to the owner, like, what? What is it?

31:16 - What are they doing?

31:18 - They were counting blossoms,

31:21 - and the blossoms were being counted.

31:23 - So the producer knew whether to send those trees,

31:29 - and the blossoms them were being converted to bushels,

31:32 - and the bushels are being converted to market in September.

31:36 - And the market was being set.

31:38 - And determined for the price to the,

31:41 - the grocery store that was his integration.

31:45 - And he was doing that with one fly over with a drone

31:48 - that he could count the blossoms.

31:50 - Know how many trees are on, apples are on the tree.

31:53 - How many bushels are in the orchard?

31:55 - What is forecast at price would be.

31:57 - And how many workers he would need in the fall.

32:00 - Right.

32:01 - That's amazing. Right.

32:02 - So I think it's one example to think about like, okay, that helped me

32:06 - think about like a drone and and how do you use it.

32:09 - And how many, how many decisions that that could be that could be made.

32:13 - And then just to close it out two weeks ago, as a part of our AG innovation grant,

32:16 - we went down to, to visit with Penn Vet, right.

32:20 - And a great partner and met, doctor Tom Parsons, who we've worked

32:24 - with for years on the swine,

32:26 - health

32:27 - issues and they have brought together, a business by the name of aggregates.

32:33 - That's a Pennsylvania based business.

32:34 - Fascinating CEO.

32:36 - But it's wearable.

32:38 - Tag technology for swine.

32:41 - And they were doing it to look at both the activity of, of the animal

32:46 - and the activity that was being analyzed for purposes of both health and nutrition.

32:51 - And part of the story was the activity of that animal told a story, right,

32:56 - about health, about welfare, about, you know, the breeding cycles, etc., etc.

33:01 - but I thought was really cool to see this tag on and they were using that.

33:05 - Now think about an entire building

33:07 - full of hogs or folks who are the cattle in the field.

33:11 - As the Andersons point out this morning, it may not always be in a building,

33:14 - may be out somewhere else.

33:15 - So what happens when when that, signal stops on the animal, right.

33:20 - It tells you something that there's. Why are they stopped?

33:22 - But the point is that you integrate all of that data, and it helps

33:25 - tell a story to both the,

33:28 - the health of the animal, the nutrition needs of the animal,

33:31 - and other really important factors for both health and production

33:35 - and how do we can consume and and convert that,

33:39 - I think, to public consumption, I think is part of it.

33:41 - But I know there's a there's a lot inside of it.

33:43 - It's driving us.

33:44 - It clearly

33:46 - raises questions of concern about how do we manage it and where do I sit.

33:50 - But I think at the end of the day, I'm also it's it's

33:55 - sort of responsible artificial intelligence, right.

33:58 - How do how do you apply that responsibly to,

34:02 - to the problem.

34:02 - So thank you. Yeah.

34:04 - And I just want to add, if you, please take some time today

34:07 - to visit our AG College of AG building, where you will,

34:12 - you will be able to continue this story that Secretary Reding

34:14 - talked about with drones because we have walked behind,

34:19 - precision, application, devices.

34:22 - We have, technology to do automated pruning of apple trees.

34:27 - We have, a display of an automated mushroom picker.

34:32 - All these things have to combine, computer aided vision

34:35 - with robotics, AI and machine learning.

34:38 - And these integrations are complex, but it is all about the integration.

34:42 - So, please

34:43 - walk through that, that later on today and you'll see a number of initiatives.

34:47 - We have been working in the college around this initiative.

34:50 - We call technology for ag and living systems, trying to apply

34:54 - technology where we can to improve efficiency, profitability, sustainability.

34:59 - We have some, displays in there.

35:01 - We'll talk about using AI for insect counting and and trying to understand

35:05 - how we're, supporting, pollinators and many, many more.

35:09 - So please go through that.

35:11 - That building a little bit later and you'll see more

35:13 - about the essential integration that we need to have here.

35:18 - The next question is,

35:20 - says the gap between research and commercialization

35:23 - continues to be a major challenge.

35:25 - Are there any recent initiatives, these partnerships or models

35:29 - that Penn State or the department are supporting to bridge that gap

35:33 - and help move ag innovations from the lab to the field?

35:38 - And if you don't mind, Secretary, I can take it first, why don't you?

35:42 - My paper says defer to the Dean. Well, I,

35:45 - I saw that as well.

35:46 - So my paper says that as well.

35:49 - It's all yours. Yeah.

35:50 - Yeah I would say this is an area that we have been working hard on here recently.

35:55 - More than a dozen years ago, the College of AG decided to put entrepreneurship

35:59 - and research commercial commercialization at the core of our mission.

36:04 - And I was involved early on as a faculty member in that effort.

36:07 - And we have had some tremendous leadership in our what we call our E and I, team.

36:13 - I will say we are we are we just, congratulated.

36:18 - Dan is there for stepping down from leading that team, for a long time.

36:22 - And Dan and the rest of the team have built a tremendous foundation

36:27 - for us to do much more in the area, in the area

36:30 - of, research, commercialization, entrepreneurship and innovation.

36:34 - I think everyone understands that new small businesses

36:38 - are really an economic engine, and particularly in Pennsylvania,

36:41 - and we need to have that sort of Silicon Valley mindset of entrepreneurship

36:47 - and innovation.

36:48 - But for agriculture,

36:49 - and there are a number of things that we're doing right now.

36:51 - We are searching for Danny's Arrows replacement.

36:54 - So if you're looking for,

36:56 - if you have some experience out in industry and you're looking for,

36:59 - another chapter in your career, please go out online and look at that.

37:03 - Look at that listing.

37:05 - I would say, a number of things have happened here recently.

37:08 - First of all, the university in general has really done a top to bottom focus on

37:15 - how are we taking discoveries

37:18 - and driving them out into the public sector.

37:21 - It's not good enough just to discover new knowledge.

37:24 - You have to take it.

37:26 - That last mile and that last mile, as many of you know, is very rocky

37:31 - and full of pitfalls, and it's very difficult

37:35 - to go from prototype and benchtop to commercialization.

37:39 - So we have developed a number of initiatives in the college to help support

37:44 - that transition, including seed funding and other types of funding mechanisms

37:48 - to get our investigators and their

37:51 - and their, partners across that, that gap,

37:55 - to, to, to commercialization

37:58 - and that will continue,

38:00 - to be to be a real focus, going, going down the road.

38:04 - So these, these partnerships, again, we have, Neelie, Amanda Purdue,

38:09 - our president, has put this as a key focus for the university,

38:14 - and she has directed everybody in her leadership team

38:18 - to to do a better job of working with companies,

38:22 - of helping entrepreneurs, of spinning off new companies

38:26 - and making sure that we get that last mile from knowledge to impact. And.

38:33 - Do you know what I mean?

38:34 - A couple of points.

38:35 - One is certainly the AG Innovation Fund.

38:38 - We're proud of that.

38:39 - We it's a it's been something we've talked about

38:42 - for a long time of we invest in projects.

38:46 - We invest a lot of research, different, different places.

38:49 - But we don't sort of take that next step.

38:51 - Right.

38:51 - There's no way to fund that next stage.

38:54 - And really proud Mike Roth is here, who administers the AG Innovation Fund.

38:59 - But what we saw in the applications,

39:03 - we had 10 million this year and, 170 applicants.

39:07 - We did about 88, I think the final number.

39:10 - But inside of that was an opportunity.

39:11 - It wasn't a prerequisite that you had research base to,

39:15 - to invest in it.

39:15 - But in some projects we did, we saw a direct link between prior

39:20 - work of research.

39:21 - We would fund it and invest it in and the next stage of innovation.

39:25 - So we've done that.

39:26 - We think there's a there's a great opportunity.

39:28 - The governor's proposed, in this next,

39:31 - current year's budget once it passes,

39:33 - hopefully, 25 million to allow us to continue that investment.

39:37 - We said no to a lot of great projects and folks who were doing that

39:41 - next stage where they need a little bit of capital,

39:43 - that really becomes the yeast to raise other moneys, by the way.

39:47 - Right.

39:47 - That's the other unspoken piece of this is it's not just our investment,

39:51 - it's the the what it allows you to do.

39:54 - Forest products industry.

39:55 - I mean, I think about

39:56 - I mean, you guys were spot on to take some of those issues of,

40:00 - the last couple of years around research and needs and bring them into,

40:04 - the innovation discussion. Right.

40:05 - So that's one example where I think, yes, to the question.

40:09 - There are recent initiatives and actions, but there's a lot more to do there.

40:13 - And I would just give an example as well.

40:15 - Back, last fall,

40:19 - in Rome, Penn State was designated

40:21 - as the North American hub for the World Food Youth Innovation Lab.

40:27 - And we come by that designation with a great deal of pride.

40:30 - I think it reflects, a food, food science department and extension program

40:35 - that have been there for, for really what is our largest

40:38 - industry in the state, and that is food manufacturing.

40:42 - And there's tremendous opportunity there with that designation.

40:45 - And we have a team led by Maria Spencer, who's developing an initiative

40:49 - we're calling harvest right now that will help that bridge

40:53 - that gap in the area of of food innovation.

40:56 - And Secretary Redding and I have had a couple of conversations about how

40:59 - we can do more to support the food manufacturing industry,

41:03 - to help these entrepreneurs at the AG Summit yesterday, we we heard great

41:07 - stories of people who started with just an idea

41:10 - and passion, and they're willing to willingness to work hard.

41:13 - And maybe Overcut overcame more barriers than they should have.

41:16 - We have got to pull those barriers down.

41:18 - We have got to pave those roads so we can have more innovation to drive

41:22 - economic prosperity.

41:26 - Yeah.

41:26 - Thank you. Yeah.

41:28 - All right.

41:28 - Next up is with the closure of Dubois and Mont Alto campuses.

41:33 - What is the status of the wildlife and Forestry associate degree programs?

41:38 - So I'll take that.

41:38 - Secretary Redding, you know,

41:42 - the challenge with the Commonwealth campus is having 19 campuses,

41:46 - has been a challenge for Penn State for some time now.

41:51 - And I really respect President Ben.

41:53 - Deputy.

41:55 - She was not going to kick the can down the road.

41:57 - She was going to look at this issue and try to identify

42:00 - how we can position Penn State with our Commonwealth

42:04 - campus system to be strong going into the future.

42:08 - And with the closing of seven campuses,

42:11 - two of those campuses, Mont Alto and Dubois, host Associates

42:15 - degree programs that are offered through the college of Agricultural Sciences.

42:20 - The morning after

42:21 - that decision was made and we found out about it,

42:24 - we met with the leadership team and we started to move.

42:27 - We created a task force that included the individuals

42:31 - that were teaching those programs and the individuals that were impacted,

42:33 - those programs, Tracy Hoover's office and senior administration.

42:37 - We knew that we needed to move fast because the associate's

42:40 - degree in wildlife, technology and the associate's

42:44 - degree in forest technology are essential for Pennsylvania.

42:50 - And so, we are on the verge of being able to tell, the complete story.

42:55 - But I can tell you these programs will not only be maintained,

43:00 - but they will be strengthened.

43:02 - And I'm looking forward to be able to release some details in the very near

43:05 - future about how we are going to, relocate those programs,

43:10 - and we are going to strengthen those to make sure we continue to provide

43:14 - the graduates needed for the industry.

43:17 - That's step one.

43:18 - We had to move fast because we did not want to skip a recruiting season.

43:22 - We wanted to make sure

43:23 - that students who were planning to go into those programs would have access.

43:26 - Step two is to work more closely with the industries who hire those graduates,

43:31 - and make sure that our curriculum fits with the needs for those students.

43:36 - And we are getting ready to to activate step two.

43:39 - Once we get these programs relocated.

43:41 - And again, we're not just moving them somewhere else, we are moving them

43:45 - and preparing to build these programs and strengthen them.

43:48 - So that part will involve, stakeholder involvement.

43:52 - As we talk about how these students are fitting into the industry needs.

43:56 - Thirdly, I want to say Mont Alto was our first Commonwealth campus.

44:00 - It is a beautiful campus that I've seen online only.

44:03 - I haven't had a chance to get down there yet.

44:05 - But I've heard so much about the history,

44:08 - you know, the

44:09 - forestry industry owe so much to graduates from on Alto.

44:13 - There is such passion about the resources, the arboretum

44:15 - down there, the forest resources, the 126 years of history.

44:19 - We are going to be working with our industry partners to see what we can do

44:23 - to protect that history and those resources,

44:26 - and envision a new way to use those resources going forward.

44:29 - There is a lot of work to do, as you might imagine, with this, with these changes.

44:34 - But we are engaged and we are trying to move fast

44:38 - so we can make sure that we position ourselves to strengthen

44:41 - these resources going forward.

44:46 - Thank you.

44:46 - Anything you want.

44:47 - Well, I think the, two points to to say,

44:51 - certainly as a trustee and other trustee trustees are here, I think there's

44:55 - there's been a growing, you know, sense of concern just given the

45:00 - enrollment, you know, there are there are, you know, confirmations

45:03 - of of rural population decline, there are enrollment declines.

45:07 - Something had to happen, right?

45:09 - You just could not continue to have this conversation

45:11 - about all of the assets and how you deploy that,

45:14 - and then match that up against sort of, state funding expectations, etc..

45:19 - So I appreciate Doctor Ben Deputy's leadership there, too.

45:23 - And I appreciate, I think immediately,

45:27 - you and the team were on that,

45:31 - issue about the impact of the forest products industry.

45:34 - Listen, these are two hallmark programs that are critical pieces,

45:37 - but at the same time, those are opportunities

45:39 - for you to sort of redefine, right and rethink about, two things.

45:43 - One, both the degree programs and the credentialing that's needed.

45:46 - But also also, how does that match up with, the integration

45:50 - of some of those skills and, and needs that the industries expressed?

45:54 - How do you do that differently?

45:55 - And so I know you're working hard at that.

45:57 - And thank you for, for addressing that need.

46:00 - Yeah. Yeah.

46:01 - And again, challenge with change always opportunities are here.

46:06 - We need to position Penn State for the next 75 to 100 years.

46:11 - And we are going to do that.

46:12 - We're going to look for the opportunities that this change, gives us.

46:16 - And I am just so pleased with senior leadership at Penn State, who's

46:19 - been very supportive, been talking to the right people, been listening to us,

46:24 - making sure that we make thoughtful decisions as we move forward.

46:29 - The next question is,

46:32 - and I'll let, Secretary, start with this.

46:34 - What is the status of the new center for Plant Excellence?

46:38 - Yeah. So thank you.

46:39 - As I noted in the introduction, I mean, we have added a center of excellence.

46:44 - It's off and running.

46:46 - The it's it's,

46:48 - where's our team leaders? Here?

46:50 - Yeah,

46:52 - the center for Plant Excellence.

46:53 - But, we've got the board.

46:55 - It has a, well defined, mission.

46:59 - I would just say it's funded, by the way, in this last budget

47:03 - and continues to be funded in the new, proposed budget.

47:07 - They're looking at research, on on plant industry advancements.

47:11 - They've got a different track looking at career development.

47:13 - One of the issues we've heard continuously, they're looking at

47:17 - how do you grow that career pipeline, for for the plant industry.

47:22 - You can't talk about plants

47:24 - without talking about invasives and some of the plant health concerns.

47:27 - And of course, some of the business, resiliency

47:30 - and innovation are part of that.

47:31 - So it's working, right?

47:33 - The board is full on work plan.

47:36 - It's staffed, and that's really, in a good place.

47:40 - Yeah.

47:40 - And I would say from my perspective,

47:42 - Secretary Redding and I were in the spring down at the,

47:45 - Southeast Research and Extension Center announcing the center.

47:49 - And, and, I think there's a 11 member board, everything from forestry,

47:54 - to mushrooms and everything in between.

47:56 - And we're so grateful that,

47:59 - the Department of Agriculture put their trust in Penn State.

48:01 - This is a broad and challenging mission, the center for Plant Excellence.

48:06 - But we are we have, the teams,

48:09 - we have the expertise, we have the the infrastructure

48:12 - to work with that, that board to make sure that PDA

48:16 - can realize the impact from that effort, that they want to have.

48:20 - And I would say this designation as a center for plant

48:23 - excellence goes along with a number of pieces of the puzzle

48:26 - that we are bringing to the table to really do a generational transformation

48:30 - in the way we handle plant sciences at Penn State.

48:33 - And we have a tremendous group of faculty, staff and extension professionals.

48:38 - But we it is long past time for us to really re-envision

48:43 - how we do plant sciences.

48:44 - And so not only the center for Plant Excellence,

48:48 - but improvements we're doing at Rock Springs, the Mendel's Way facility,

48:53 - things that we're doing at our Stone Valley forced to integrate,

48:56 - not just the research,

48:57 - not just the wet, lab research, but drive it out into the field.

49:02 - So we can then make recommendations, provide solutions.

49:05 - So this, initiative we've been calling Plant Works,

49:08 - and we hope to be talking to you more about plant works going forward.

49:12 - Really prepared to support, Pennsylvania's,

49:16 - agricultural systems in a way that we haven't been able to do before.

49:20 - Yeah, I think it follows just to note, I mean, those who are familiar

49:23 - with the other centers of excellence,

49:25 - there's a heavy sort of, industry driven focus right at the center

49:29 - for Dairy Excellence, beef excellence, that of organic excellence.

49:33 - The the poultry, livestock, they're industry initiatives.

49:36 - Right.

49:36 - So the industry boards really drive what those centers do.

49:39 - You know, same is true here.

49:40 - And you're helping to administer that.

49:42 - But the industry by both designation on each of those, board members,

49:47 - but also just the convergence of that industry input into what

49:51 - the center does, ultimately, is what will define the success of that center.

49:55 - Yeah. Thank you.

49:58 - Do we have any questions online?

50:00 - We do.

50:02 - So one question is what's what is one thing

50:04 - the agricultural sector wishes the general public understood better?

50:08 - And how can Penn State help communicate that to the broader community?

50:13 - I would just say from my perspective, growing up here in Pennsylvania and,

50:18 - doing a lot of discussions about, agriculture and ag technology,

50:23 - I think many in the general public don't understand

50:27 - that we have the safest,

50:29 - most abundant, most affordable and most sustainable

50:34 - agricultural systems we've had in the history of humanity.

50:38 - That doesn't mean we are resting on our laurels.

50:41 - We have a lot more work to do.

50:43 - But growing up in a poor family

50:45 - where when things got expensive, we got less of them.

50:49 - Making food affordable is essential.

50:52 - And and food safety.

50:55 - We we have we have, if you look back over history

50:59 - and the problems with food safety and food borne

51:02 - illnesses, tremendous work has been done there.

51:05 - So sometimes when you talk to people, you hear funny phrases

51:08 - like broken food systems that just doesn't comport with the data.

51:13 - And I think if if I could leave one thing with people who misunderstand

51:18 - is that we have built a tremendous,

51:22 - interlocking set of food systems.

51:24 - Again, much more work to be done, but much to be proud of.

51:28 - And it all starts with the hard work of the people out there

51:31 - in primary agriculture, working the land day in and day out.

51:36 - And we've got to find ways to make sure that they can continue to do that

51:39 - profitably.

51:41 - Yeah, it's a great question, right?

51:44 - It's one that spent a lot of time thinking about,

51:47 - you know, people,

51:50 - you know, people protect the things they care about.

51:53 - And I often think about what

51:56 - what I want the public to,

51:59 - to do for us. Right.

52:00 - I think these economic discussions and, you know, we've got these food

52:04 - systems, you get all these sort of needs, you've got,

52:07 - you know, all of these, funding dynamics.

52:10 - But at the end of the day, the human element is, is important.

52:15 - I want the public to, to really care.

52:18 - I mean, to express that this matters and that they matter, in agriculture matters.

52:23 - And you can have some of these really complicated conversations about, land use.

52:28 - You can talk about, you know, genetics.

52:31 - You can talk about science, you can talk about

52:34 - the intersection of things that are inside

52:38 - the industry conversation

52:40 - that are, begin with food, but they extend to the environment.

52:43 - They extend to jobs.

52:45 - They talk about the quality of life.

52:47 - It's about all of these other things that people care about.

52:51 - Inside of this agriculture discussion is really

52:53 - where we find ourselves at that intersection.

52:56 - It's complicated. Right?

52:57 - Because we we satisfy them.

53:00 - But the satisfaction only comes

53:01 - the way of their appreciation for everything else that I do.

53:04 - And how do you get folks to appreciate that?

53:06 - There's a lot of things that are entrusted to to the AG industry

53:09 - that are far beyond the immediate satisfaction of eating.

53:14 - And this those are the things that that are really people care deeply about.

53:18 - But they don't always tag them to us

53:22 - and they don't always speak in terms of it matters.

53:24 - So ultimately, this is a question about what matters.

53:28 - If it matters who feeds you?

53:29 - Agriculture counts, right?

53:31 - If it matters what the land use and the local community looks like,

53:34 - if it matters that this environment is really,

53:36 - you know, a functional, meaningful, clean, protected environment for kids,

53:43 - it matters if the food system is there and it's available.

53:46 - Right. You need it.

53:47 - And it responds the way you want it to.

53:50 - It matters. So that's my ask.

53:52 - That's the wish that I want people to say, yeah, this matters.

53:56 - I'll invest in that because it matters.

53:58 - I'll protect that because it matters.

54:00 - I'll show up at the local township meeting because it matters.

54:04 - Right?

54:04 - We'll get an egg science program

54:05 - put back in that high school because it matters, right?

54:08 - I'll feed those folks who may have lost their Snap benefits because it matters.

54:13 - They're the things that drive this, the human side of this business

54:17 - and is really, really critical and understanding.

54:20 - So like, where are we going in our jobs as translators, as leaders is really

54:25 - to help people understand both of what we do, but also why it matters.

54:31 - Yeah, thanks.

54:32 - Thanks. Secretary.

54:33 - For those of powerful words there, and I've seen as as you've worked and

54:38 - I've watched you work over the last year that that's what you lead with.

54:42 - And it's, and it's been helpful for me

54:45 - to think about things in that context.

54:48 - I will say on that topic,

54:51 - you know, in agriculture, we have we can never say we've arrived, that

54:56 - we are always challenged by society to do better.

55:00 - And that's the great thing about humans.

55:02 - We we never are satisfied.

55:04 - We always strive to do better.

55:07 - And so I understand,

55:10 - that we must always do

55:12 - more, find more creative ways.

55:15 - But key in that equation

55:18 - is, is working with the people who work the land.

55:21 - And so, just really, really powerful, comments there.

55:25 - Secretary,

55:27 - I know we have about four minutes left.

55:29 - My, my. Wow. Yeah.

55:31 - And I wanted to just give you if you wanted, did you have any final,

55:35 - comments you want to make before I just there's another question.

55:39 - No more questions on.

55:40 - Okay, that one here. I think again.

55:43 - Okay.

55:44 - Maybe he'll do two more minutes if anybody in the audience,

55:48 - anyone have some questions.

55:55 - Or any questions.

56:00 - Oh okay.

56:02 - Got a question. Yeah.

56:03 - Thank you.

56:03 - This has been a really interesting conversation this morning.

56:07 - You both kind of touched on. Really?

56:09 - What are we looking for? For the future, I think, Mr.

56:12 - Secretary, you said what does AG look like for years to come?

56:15 - Dina, you touched on.

56:16 - We need to prepare Penn State for the next 75 to 100 years.

56:20 - Both really good points.

56:21 - Where do you see for me?

56:23 - I'm really big into the hydroponics.

56:25 - Where do you see that falling into Penn State's line.

56:28 - Where do you see that falling into Pennsylvania overall?

56:30 - And how do you think that will affect the future of AG?

56:33 - Yeah, I would say it's going to be a piece.

56:36 - Everything. There's always a puzzle.

56:38 - There's always a number of building blocks.

56:40 - And certainly,

56:41 - that will be part of the puzzle.

56:43 - I was recently, pleased to roll out a new, program

56:47 - in the college called the land Grant Research Impact Fellows

56:51 - that recognizes our faculty that do a particularly good job

56:55 - of bringing technology to solve problems in Pennsylvania.

56:58 - And, and one of the the individuals we we we honored with,

57:03 - an the fellow designation was was an innovator and, engineer, named Jeff Ketch.

57:08 - Mark, who, among many other things, is developing

57:11 - soil this media for

57:15 - agri products or aquaponics, systems.

57:18 - And so,

57:20 - there was an analysis done not too long ago where

57:23 - it's pretty clear that there's going to be some real opportunity

57:25 - and controlled environment agriculture. Here in Pennsylvania.

57:28 - We sit in the is eastern seaboard, close to a lot of high value markets.

57:33 - And so there's a real growth opportunity.

57:35 - So we are going to need to invest so we can support those industries

57:40 - as they develop and they face new challenges.

57:42 - Again we are the R&D arm.

57:43 - We are the ones that solve the problems.

57:45 - And that's one example of, some things we're doing in support of that industry.

57:50 - Yeah, yeah.

57:51 - You have a bright future there, right? We're going to need you.

57:54 - I mean, I think the hydroponics, the, you know, confined,

57:57 - growing, in all forms, you know, look, look at the back

58:02 - page of the New York Times.

58:04 - And I watch the heat map every day.

58:07 - Look at, the production in the, in the western part of the country,

58:11 - in the mid part of the country, those aquifers, places that are dependent

58:15 - on, on drawing water, one of the assets we have is 44in of natural rain.

58:21 - Right. I put that on the asset list.

58:23 - As long as it doesn't come in three months. Right.

58:25 - Which is what we have.

58:26 - But point is that are assets so growing that,

58:29 - little leaf operation up, in,

58:33 - Carbon County, right.

58:34 - 40 acres under under roof, go there someday.

58:37 - Right. You'll see. Hydroponic growing.

58:39 - It's fascinating.

58:40 - Right. Amazing story.

58:41 - So you're part of that story. Thank you.

58:44 - And I do think we're going to have to wrap it up now.

58:47 - Secretary writing, I just want to say thank you so much.

58:51 - I look forward, to spending the next couple of days

58:53 - here with you and seeing you out on the road.

58:57 - I want to thank our audience, for coming here today.

59:00 - Thanks to those who submitted the questions and for participating.

59:04 - I want to remind you, please, take time to visit

59:06 - both the PDA building and see the great work that they're doing.

59:10 - And also the College of AG exhibit building, where you can learn,

59:14 - much more about some of the issues we talked about here today.

59:17 - So take care and I hope you have a wonderful afternoon.

59:19 - Thank you. Thank you.

59:22 - I'm so.

59:26 - You know.

59:51 - They.