Saying progress doesn’t happen without a plan, Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman presented the updated strategic plan for Indiana agriculture on Thursday, June 25 at the Kelsay Dairy in Johnson County.
“This is not an abandonment of the strategies we put in place in 2005,” said Skillman. “It’s an update and it’s based on some new challenges or where we see we should have a greater focus, such as the advocacy efforts.”
Advocacy is one of three core strategies identified in the strategic plan update, the others being economic opportunity and environmental stewardship.
In an interview with Brownfield, Anne Hazlett, director of ISDA explained why advocacy has been identified as a core strategy.
“This is something I’ve shared with many folks, it’s the thing that has people waiting in line after a speech to visit with you about, they want to know what you are going to do to stand up and be a voice for our industry,” Hazlett said. “I think there’s a lot of concerns across the different sectors that we do have this growing disconnect between not only consumers, but elected officials, community leaders, decision makers are disconnected from where there food is coming from and it is our job as an industry to help educate.”
The update of the strategic plan was developed over the past year with input from more than 250 agricultural stakeholders and partners across the state.
AUDIO: Indiana Lt. Governor Becky Skillman (4:00 MP3)
AUDIO: Anne Hazlett, director, Indiana State Dept. of Agriculture (3:00 MP3)
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