On May 16, 2024, The Sherrod Institute held an event that was centered around advancing equity with agriculture in Albany, GA. The Sherrod Institute wanted to share the fruits of their work to help safeguard and improve the USDA experience for underserved farmers while also hearing from the Secretary of Agriculture, Thomas Vilsack.
Secretary Vilsack spoke on bridging the gap between USDA and Farmers and how they are taking a deeper dive to ensure the application and process is easier to receive assistance through USDA programs. During his keynote speech, he has realized there is a disconnect between farmers and ranchers' relationship with the local USDA office across Georgia and nationwide. It is vital that he and his staff improve those relations to achieve the tremendous goal to feed America and provide agriculture commodities to everyone. Secretary Vilsack sees the Rural Partners Network role it has put in place to ensure that funds reach those rural counties as well and has increased funds allocations to persistent poverty counties nationwide.
Overall, it was a very informative event where farmers and ranchers walked away with a sense of relief knowing that USDA would be there for their aid with assistance.