Fortunately, when it comes to meat and poultry, I have the really wonderful situation of having producers and processors that produce and process a very high-quality product.

There is a tremendous amount of support for the approach we have taken, which again is to base our decisions on risk analysis and thoughtful scientific process.

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.

On the professional side, those 18 years on the farm instilled my love for agriculture.

The industry is becoming very ready for animal identification.

The goal is to normalize trade relations based on sound science and consumer protection.

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