Northwest Iowa (Radio Iowa) — U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue is touting a new program designed to find mentors for beginning farmers.
Perdue spoke Saturday in Des Moines at the Iowa Ag Summit, touting the USDA’s new partnership with a group called SCORE — the Service Corps of Retired Executives.
Perdue says the U-S-D-A will help recruit people in Iowa who will provide “no cost” advice on starting a farming operation. The program will eventually expand to other states. Perdue says a mentor who is “at the shoulder” of a beginning farmer can steer them away from the pitfalls of getting too deeply in debt.
Perdue is on a five-state tour of the Midwest. He visited the Mississippi Valley Fair in Davenport on Sunday. On Saturday morning, Perdue toured Sukup Manufacturing in Sheffield before delivering the keynote speech at the Iowa Ag Summit in Des Moines. On Saturday afternoon, Perdue visited Living History Farms in Urbandale and he tweeted about seeing steam engine tractors, threshing and watching a baseball game played by the original rules. Perdue made stops in Illinois Monday.
Photo Caption: U.S. Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue signs the agreement for the SCORE program.
