Science is the international language, so when we are able to convince countries that good decision-making for human health and animal health is based upon science, that’s a real success story for us.

We asked ourselves and the world to base decisions on good science, and I really believe the United States can be the leader in delivering that message to our international trading partners.

When one cow was found with BSE in 2003, many of our trading partners closed their borders to our beef.

Today, we can tell people we have a testing process and facilities in place on a nationwide basis.

Growing up on a dairy farm, you certainly learn discipline and a commitment to purpose.

We're going to do everything possible to make sure that food safety is always paramount, and that we work with the industry as aggressively as we can to make sure that we're paying attention to the food-safety issues.

The meat and poultry industries are outstanding industries, and it's going to be a very natural fit for me.