218 



BY 



CHARLES P. SCHROEDER 



DELEGATE 



COUNCIL FOR AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH, 

 EXTENSION AND TEACHING (CARET) 



Chainnan Stenholm and members of the subcommittee, I am Charles Schroeder from Lincobi, 

 Nebraska. I offer testimony to this important subcommittee as a close-range observer and 

 long-time beneficiary of our nation's agricultural research enterprise. With it, I encourage 

 your support for a coordinated, priority-based system for restoring and strengthening our 

 infrastructure for agricultural research. To provide context for my perspective, I would report 

 that my family and 1 have been in the ranching, farming and cattle feeding business in 

 southwest Nebraska for three generations. 1 was in the public sector during the mid-1980s as 

 Nebraska's Director of Agriculture, and now serve Nebraska's land-grant institution as 

 Executive Vice President of the University of Nebraska Foundation. As an outgrowth of 

 these professional activities related to agriculture and my rural state, it has been my privilege 

 to serve in a volunteer role as President of the Heartland Center for Leadership Development, 

 a small nonprofit dedicated to enhancing the success of rural communities, and as delegate to 

 the Council for Agricultural Research, Extension and Teaching (CARET). CARET is a 

 national grassroots organization made up of farmers, ranchers, homemakers and rural 

 entrepreneurs; agribusiness and commodity organization leaders; state and local officials and 

 members of various agricultural advisory groups. Its delegates arc volunteers appointed by 

 the Vice Presidents and Deans of Colleges of Agriculture across the United States who woik 

 cooperatively under the umbrella of the National Association of State Universities and Land- 

 Grant Colleges (NASULGC). CARET was established in 1982 as a mechanism through 

 which citizen support could be expressed for agricultural research, extension and teaching 

 programs. Its mission is to enhance national support and understanding of the land-grant 

 university's involvement in the food and agriculture system. 



For the last four years, 1 have been CARET'S liaison to the USt)A Users Advisory Board. In 

 that capacity, I've had the opportunity to see agricultural research facilities at USDA and 

 land-grant university sites from California to New York, Alaska to Georgia. Our mission in 

 visiting those many and varied research sites was to observe the nature and output of the 

 investigative work being conducted there and provide user feedback as to its relevance and 

 perceived value to agriculture and the food system. The experience has been both fascinating 

 and frightening. 



