The Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) and over three dozen partner organizations, including Clean Fuels Alliance America, hosted the inaugural Celebration of Modern Agriculture on the National Mall outside the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) headquarters this week, highlighting America’s agriculture innovators.

More than 16,000 visitors attended the two-day festival and engaged with hands-on educational displays about modern agriculture. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack celebrated Ag Day at the festival and delivered remarks to the audience. President Joe Biden’s proclamation for National Ag Day recognized farmers’ and ranchers’ “tireless efforts growing crops, raising livestock, and distributing food, fuel, and fiber sustain America and the entire world.”

Vilsack delivered remarks at the event, invoking President Abraham Lincoln who created the USDA in 1862. “I think he (Lincoln) would be pleased that we’re expanding the notion of agriculture,” Vilsack said. “The idea that it just doesn’t have to happen in a rural area – it can happen in a big city, too. It can happen on a rooftop. It can happen in a building. It can happen in the lab.”

Listen to Vilsack’s remarks below – and be sure to check out the photo album. Thanks to Gary Crawford at USDA for the audio and Jamie Johansen for the photos.
Ag Day 2022 - Vilsack remarks (9:06)