Vilsack to Present Next Heuermann Lecture at Rural Futures Conference Nov. 5

Oct. 31, 2013

LINCOLN, Neb. — Tom Vilsack, U.S. secretary of agriculture, will lay out his vision to create new opportunity for rural America and grow the rural economy as a Heuermann Lecturer Tuesday, Nov. 5, in the Grand Ballroom of The Cornhusker, 333 S. 13^th in Lincoln.

Topic for the 2:30 p.m. Heuermann Lecture is “Rural America:  New Markets, New Understanding, Unlimited Opportunity.” 

The lecture is jointly sponsored with the University of Nebraska’s Rural Futures Institute, and also is a keynote address for the national Rural Futures Conference.

Vilsack will discuss USDA’s and the Obama Administration’s efforts to expand markets for American agriculture products at home and abroad; new income opportunities and stronger climate solutions through natural resources conservation; the potential to expand advanced renewable energy and bio-based product creation in rural America, and more. 

Vilsack, chair of the first-ever White House Rural Council, was appointed secretary of agriculture in 2009.   He served as Iowa’s governor from 1999-2007; before that he served in the Iowa State Senate and as mayor of Mt. Pleasant, Iowa, his wife’s hometown, where he practiced law.

Heuermann Lectures in the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are free and open to the public.  They focus on providing and sustaining enough food, natural resources and renewable energy for the world’s people, and on securing the sustainability of rural communities where the vital work of producing food and renewable energy occurs. 

The lectures are made possible by a gift from B. Keith and Norma Heuermann of Phillips, long-time university supporters with a strong commitment to Nebraska’s production agriculture, natural resources, rural areas and people.

Lectures stream live at http://heuermannlectures.unl.edu and are broadcast on NET2 World at a date following the lecture.