美国国家公共电台 NPR Winds Of Change Could Come Slowly For Agriculture Nominee Perdue

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

The Senate is scheduled to vote today on the nation's next agriculture secretary, a full three months after President Trump¹ announced his choice for that job. If confirmed, Sonny Perdue will run a department slated² for major cuts in the administration's proposed budget. Those cuts could end up affecting the lives of farmers, many of whom are seeing their incomes fall for the fourth year in a row. Iowa Public Radio's Amy Mayer has more.

AMY MAYER, BYLINE³: Former Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue sailed through his Senate committee hearing and his confirmation⁴ is expected. But that may be the easiest thing he'll do. The Department of Agriculture has been without a secretary for three months. And Perdue faces a long to-do list. Iowa State University political scientist Max Shelley is concerned that the delay in his confirmation sends a message.

MACK SHELLEY: I think it is crystal clear that this is not the number one objective of the current Republican leadership at either end of Pennsylvania Avenue.

MAYER: Shelley thinks that's odd because it was farmers and other rural voters who played key roles in Trump's victory.

SHELLEY: That's basically running the risk of poking⁵ your fingers in the eyes of your supporters. You've had very little payback - positive payback - at this point for the rural sector⁶ of the economy and the electorate⁷.

MAYER: The focus for many right now in farm country is getting seeds in the ground. Robbie Maass and his parents, Leah and Bob, open the sliding doors on their machine shed near Ellsworth, Iowa. It's another in a string of gray rainy days preventing them from planting. Bob Maass kicks the tires of a giant blue planter and taps at the wheels to knock off last year's mud. Robbie Maass joined this farm operation just a few years ago.

With sustained low prices for corn and soybeans, it's been tough but he's lucky his parents have made the major investments, like this high-tech⁸ equipment. But they can't get into the fields until the weather dries out. It's frustrating⁹ for farmers to sit and wait. Leah Maass says that extends to waiting so long for the top ag post to be filled. Still, she's confident Sonny Perdue is a good choice.

LEAH MAASS: He was a producer and yet he's had experience with trucking, the transportation industry and so many other aspects. And then he's already served public office, so he knows - he understands the rule making and the regulation side of it.

MAYER: Perdue grew up on a dairy farm, trained as a veterinarian, worked for decades in family agribusinesses and served two terms as governor of Georgia. While in office, he faced ethics¹⁰ complaints about his ongoing¹¹ involvement in the family businesses. Part of the reason his confirmation is taking so long is that Perdue had to untangle himself from those interests. While the Department of Agriculture has been without a secretary, farmers have grown nervous as farm economics got swept up in tough talk over trade.

Mexico, for example, the biggest foreign buyer of U.S. corn, is threatening to get its grain instead from South America. Farmer Kurt Hora, who heads the Iowa Corn Growers Association, says that would be a serious blow to U.S. farmers. Hora worries that among the president's proposed cuts to agriculture is money spent on promoting U.S. products abroad.

KURT HORA: We want to make sure that we don't lose those markets because it takes a lot more to get a market back than it does to maintain and to build one.

MAYER: Like the Maass family, Hora's trying to get his crops in the ground. And like many other farmers, he's looking forward to having an agriculture secretary who can advocate for farmers in this new administration. For NPR News, I'm Amy Mayer near Ellsworth, Iowa.

(SOUNDBITE OF SPIRO'S "AND ALL THROUGH THE WINTER HE HID HIMSELF AWAY")

MARTIN: That story comes to us from Harvest Public Media, a reporting collaboration¹² that focuses on agriculture and food production.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 slated   

用石板瓦盖( slate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Yuki is working up an in-home phonics program slated for Thursdays, and I'm drilling her on English conversation at dinnertime. Yuki每周四还有一次家庭语音课。我在晚餐时训练她的英语口语。
• Bromfield was slated to become U.S. Secretary of Agriculture. 布罗姆菲尔德被提名为美国农业部长。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

5 poking   

n. 刺，戳，袋 vt. 拨开，刺，戳 vi. 戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢

参考例句：

• He was poking at the rubbish with his stick. 他正用手杖拨动垃圾。
• He spent his weekends poking around dusty old bookshops. 他周末都泡在布满尘埃的旧书店里。

6 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

7 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

8 high-tech   

adj.高科技的

参考例句：

• The economy is in the upswing which makes high-tech services in more demand too.经济在蓬勃发展，这就使对高科技服务的需求量也在加大。
• The quest of a cure for disease with high-tech has never ceased. 人们希望运用高科技治疗疾病的追求从未停止过。

9 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

11 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

12 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。