The Greensburg Optimist Club gathered for their weekly, early-morning meeting, sipping their coffee as they listened in on a presentation from Tony Hahn, Deputy Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.
Hahn is a 1995 graduate of North Decatur Jr/Sr High School who attended Purdue University for his undergraduate study before pursuing graduate work at Illinois and earning his law degree from Indiana University. He now serves as the deputy director for the Department of Agriculture, a department that was formed in 2005.
“We live in a very blessed county down here for agriculture in our resources, in our soil, in the wealth of our labor and our people here,” he noted. “Indiana agriculture is very diverse, and that makes my job very interesting.”
He pointed out that Indiana is near the top for production of duck, mint, popcorn and pork. The state comes in second in the nation for ice cream production and is number one in low-fat ice cream, he continued. The purpose of his department, he explained, is to promote and grow agriculture as an economic development tool for the state.
“Every county, all 92, can benefit from agriculture in one way or another,” he said. “We are advocates for our industry, and we want to see it grow because we know it’s good for Indiana.”
The office is located in Indianapolis, but there are 40 staff members who spend their time in the fields, he noted. The staff focuses on soil conservation, working with local Soil and Water Conservation Districts throughout the state, as well as advocacy and the economic development aspects of agriculture.
Advocacy, he noted, is particularly important since less than 2 percent of the general populace is still involved in agriculture.
“The further away they get from the farm, the more they don’t understand what modern livestock, modern grain and modern agriculture look like,” he said.
He noted that Americans spend an average of 11 or 12 percent of their income on food, a figure that is much lower than the cost in much of the world. The funds that might otherwise be spent on food are then able to be used to stimulate the economy in other ways, he explained.
“Having that cheap, safe, reliable food often goes unappreciated,” he said.
With such a small percentage of the population actively participating in agribusiness, he noted, each farmer is feeding approximately 155 people, a figure made possible by advances in technology. As the global population continues to grow, Hahn sees great potential for the industry. He noted that nations like Brazil, Russia, India and China have middle classes that are growing, and with this growth comes increased protein demand.
“Ag could really be an early leader in this economic recovery as we see more demand,” he said. “Agriculture in general is at a very pivotal and exciting time.”
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