[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 13240]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




        CELEBRATING 40 YEARS WITH COMMUNICATING FOR AGRICULTURE

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. COLLIN C. PETERSON

                              of minnesota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 8, 2011

  Mr. PETERSON. Mr. Speaker, in 1972, Communicating for Agriculture 
(CA) started as a small group of dairy farmers in Minnesota's 7th 
Congressional District. Today CA has tens of thousands of agriculture 
and small business members across the United States, and 4 decades of 
legislative accomplishments on behalf of their members. From helping to 
form the first state high-risk pool for the medically uninsurable in 
Minnesota in 1976, to the first beginning farmer loan program in Iowa 
in 1980, to forming its own international agriculture exchange program 
in 1985, to receiving the first Agriculture Apprenticeship designation 
granted by the U.S. Department of Labor in 2007. CA was founded to 
promote the general health, welfare and advancement of people in 
agriculture or small business, and after 40 years of service to rural 
America, that mission continues to drive CA today.
  In 1986, the CA Foundation applied for and received authority from 
the United States Department of State to sponsor a J-1 training and 
intern program, allowing the exchange of young people to have a 
learning experience in agriculture. That year 6 trainees arrived as 
part of CA Education and Exchange Program (CAEP). Within 10 years, the 
program grew to become the largest of its kind in the United States. 
Today, CAEP works with more than 1,000 young people from more than 50 
countries in the areas of agriculture, horticulture, enology, equine 
and turf management, with CAEP international offices in Denmark, 
Mexico, Columbia, Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, 
Hungary, Moldova, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New 
Zealand, the Philippines and China.
  Today, the U.S. State Department requires the J-1 Visa program to 
include a training plan that is agreed to by the CA Member Host, as 
well as the trainee or intern. Upon satisfactory completion of the 
program, CAEP awards a certificate of completion, which is taken by the 
trainee back to their home country where they will begin their career 
in their chosen field. The CA Foundation also provides opportunities 
and grants to Americans between the ages of 18 and 28 to have a similar 
3 to 12 month placement in agriculture with one of our country partners 
around the world.
  Congratulations to CAEP on 25 years of international agriculture 
education and exchange leadership and to CA on 40 years of serving 
rural America.

                          ____________________