representatives from foreign embassies are in the audience including mayors of agriculture of costa rica, gloria abraham and we're honored to have her with us. also joining us is a former colleague, secretary of agriculture from california, karen ross. i'd like to open with a deeply felt thanks to individual on our organizing team, planning the forum demands great skill, knowledge and attention to detail. for months and months. with special recognition to chief economist joe, you hear from in a few minutes. and jerry who heads up this effort. and my appreciation to more than 95 distinguished experts who will speak at 29 recap sessions. in fact, we have so much to share this year that tomorrow he will have six choices instead of the usual five and our concurrent sessions. the secretary and our special place this year to present two very full days highlighting the changing face of agriculture. and there's no question that american agriculture demands a more dynamic population. we face pressing issues about the aging of the american farmer, the increasing food demands of this century, and the next generati