[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 24 (Thursday, February 8, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S1779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               THE FACE OF IDAHO AGRICULTURE FOR A DECADE

 Mr. CRAPO. Mr. President, one of the marks of a successful 
government official is his or her ability to bridge the gap between the 
public and the agency in order to foster a positive and productive 
relationship that benefits the public good. Someone who not only 
accomplishes this, but takes this principle to a level of excellence, 
is nothing short of exceptional. A fellow Idahoan, Pat Takasugi, is 
just such an individual. Pat retired from the Idaho State Department of 
Agriculture on December 31, 2006, serving as its director for the past 
10 years, under three governors. A third-generation farmer from Wilder, 
ID, Pat promoted excellence in Idaho agriculture on multiple fronts for 
a decade: foreign trade, conservation, regulation, compliance, inter-
agribusiness partnerships, and beneficial relationships among 
producers, processors, consumers, and international partners.
  Pat served his country with distinction even before leading the Idaho 
Department of Agriculture. He attained the rank of captain in the Army 
and served as a Green Beret A-team commander in the Special Forces.
  Pat's knowledge of agriculture is rooted deeply in his family and, as 
a grower of alfalfa seed, onions, wheat, pea seed, and garden bean 
seed, he has a well-rounded sense of Idaho crops and the conditions and 
processes necessary for success. It is a fact that agriculture in Idaho 
and in the United States is a complex and highly interdependent system. 
All parts, from regulations to funding to common practices to the 
actual production on the ground, must work in concert in order to keep 
our food supply safe and efficient, and our agri-businesses thriving. 
Pat understands these multifaceted relationships on a systemic level; 
this strength lent itself to superior leadership and accomplishment in 
his role as director.
  Regulations pose particular challenges to any commodity system; Pat 
met these challenges headon, pushing for a commonsense, financially 
feasible regulatory system. He created a Customer Assisted Inspection 
Program for fruits and vegetables. He moved the Weights and Measures 
Bureau to computerized inspection forms. He streamlined the pesticide 
applicator licensing process. He increased education on the proper use 
and application of pesticides; and he was instrument, in drafting a 
Memorandum of Understanding among EPA, Idaho DEQ, and industry to deal 
with regulatory compliance of confined animal operations including 
feedlots and dairies. Compliance goes hand in hand with regulations: 
Pat worked to improve chemigation site and equipment inspections.
  Agriculture today is responding in positive and responsible ways to 
the environment. Pat led the way in many efforts to help Idaho 
agriculture respond to environmental concerns, including better 
identification of ground water pollutants and response strategies, 
increasing collections of unused pesticides, successfully fighting both 
Eurasian Milfoil and noxious weeds and improving the smoke management 
program, including local outreach to affected communities.
  Throughout, Pat worked to promote Idaho agriculture products by 
initiating the ``Idaho Preferred'' marketing program. He also 
consistently worked to protect Idaho's agriculture producers by 
creating a seed fund to mirror the Commodity Indemnity Fund and 
improving the Warehouse Control Program. Finally, he emphasized 
protection of Idaho's food industry by creating the Idaho Food Quality 
Assurance Lab and working to isolate the potato cyst nematode outbreak 
and reassure our trading partners that Idaho produce remains dependably 
safe. Others recognized his expertise and vision. He served as 
president of the National Association of State Directors of 
Agriculture; chairman of several national committees supporting the 
State's commodity indemnity fund, foreign market development and 
agriculture research. He served as cochair of NASDA's Warehouse Task 
Force, a member of USDA's Agricultural Air Quality Task Force, and 
cochair of the US-Canada Provincial State Advisory Group.
  Undoubtedly, Pat recognizes the importance of foreign markets to 
Idaho agriculture. He was particularly supportive of market development 
overseas, participating in several foreign trade missions and several 
commodity groups.
  I especially appreciate Pat's commitment to including multiple 
stakeholders during agriculture policy formulation and review. He 
reached out to national organizations, State, and industry leaders in 
Idaho and the tribes to promote partnerships that aimed to solve rather 
than perpetuate challenges to successful agriculture in Idaho. Pat's 
community outreach efforts included support of the Access Yes Program 
to allow sportsmen and women on to private land and the creation of a 
user-friendly public Web site for the Department.
  Pat handled challenges such as the detection of brucellosis in Idaho 
livestock, grass-burning issues, and the bankruptcy of the ABT alfalfa 
seed company with strong leadership and deft crisis management.
  Pat will be sorely missed, and his boots impossible to fill. I am 
honored to have worked with such a remarkable individual over the years 
and wish him well as he, in his own words, goes home and ``starts 
walking fields and driving tractors--doing what real people do.'' Idaho 
agriculture will always bear the indelible mark of Pat's 
legacy.

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