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U.S., Hungary discuss research, education, and climate

A delegation from Hungary including Minister of Agriculture István Nagy recently discussed research, education, and climate goals with U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Aniko Juhasz is the deputy state secretary for the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture.  

“The Washington D.C. meetings were quite useful, insightful, and inspirational. We had a meeting with Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack at the USDA, Farm Bureau, National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, and we also met with some farmers. It was interesting to see that famers here have similar issues to farmers at home,” she says.

She was also recently in Indiana to meet with universities to better understand how they share information about ag innovation. She tells Brownfield European Union member countries have the Agricultural Knowledge and Innovation Systems.

“The goal is to enhance and development the knowledge flow between farmers, advisors, and the research community to have a network helping farmers,” she says.

Juhasz says because of Hungary’s size, the county must use limited human, natural, and knowledge resources in efficient ways to achieve the same results as bigger countries with more resources.

“That’s why it’s important to coordinate between research and farming and other stakeholders to educate advisors and others who can converse between these professions,” she says. “…if we do our job well then I think with less resources we can modernize our agriculture more quickly.”

During the visit, Ag Minister Nagy agreed to a cooperation in research and education with the U.S.

He also discussed climate goals; animal welfare and animal health; and potentially expanding John Deere in Hungary.

Nagy and Vilsack agreed that the sustainability challenges of agriculture require help for farmers in accessing technology, innovation, and education.