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Agriculture secretary visits Iowa, touts need for farmers

Ag/Outdoor, News

August 6th, 2017 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) ā€” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue is visiting Iowa on a tour to tout the importance of bringing more young people into farm-related professions.

Perdue stopped in Sheffield, Des Moines, Urbandale and Davenport over the weekend as part of a five-state tour. On Saturday, he delivered the keynote speech at the 2017 Iowa Ag Summit in Des Moines.

Perdue also announced a new mentoring program for farmers. He says he wants to make it easier for families to get into the industry. A new partnership between the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the nonprofit group SCORE will help aspiring farmers.

Perdue says future farmers need more access to capital, technology and information to join the industry, which he says will face greater demands in the next 30 years.