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1Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute2Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems3Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesIn a December 14, 2016, farewell article, Tom Vilsack named five accomplishments from his time as U.S. secretary of agriculture: rural economic gains, biobased manufacturing, local and regional food systems, agricultural exports, and conservation. The figures below are Vilsack’s own retrospective claims—not an independently ranked or audited scorecard—and describe historical periods, not current conditions.
What Vilsack said he accomplished
Vilsack opened by describing the period from January 2009 to the end of 2016 as the greatest eight-year period in the nation’s history for farm income, exports, and overall agricultural productivity. That is his characterization of his tenure. His five categories and the figures he used to support them are summarized below.
| Accomplishment | Figures cited in Vilsack’s 2016 article |
|---|---|
| Rural resurgence | 500,000 rural jobs added over the preceding two years; rural unemployment below 6%; wages grew 3.4% in 2015. |
| Biobased manufacturing | $393 billion in economic contribution and 4.2 million jobs in 2015; about 300 million gallons of petroleum displaced annually, which Vilsack compared with taking 200,000 cars off the road. |
| Local-regional food systems | Industry estimates put local food sales at $12 billion in 2014 and forecast $20 billion by 2019. USDA invested more than $1 billion in over 40,000 businesses and infrastructure projects from 2009 through 2015; Vilsack also cited more than 160,000 farmers and ranchers selling locally. |
| Agricultural exports | More than $1 trillion in U.S. agricultural exports since 2009, along with a trade surplus and market openings or expansions. |
| Conservation | USDA worked with as many as 500,000 farmers and ranchers annually on practices covering more than 400 million acres. Vilsack attributed reductions in nitrogen runoff, phosphorus runoff, and net greenhouse-gas emissions to those practices. |
Each figure in the table is reported by Vilsack in his December 14, 2016, Successful Farming article. The article does not provide an independent evaluation or underlying dataset for these claims.
1. Rural economic gains
Vilsack’s “resurgence of rural America” case combined employment, unemployment, wages, hunger, and insurance coverage. He said rural areas had added 500,000 jobs in the preceding two years, rural unemployment had fallen below 6% for the first time since the recession, and wages grew 3.4% in 2015. He also said the share of rural children struggling with hunger and the uninsured rate were at historic lows. These are claims in his 2016 account, not present-day measurements.
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2. Growth in biobased manufacturing
Vilsack cited a 2015 economic contribution of $393 billion and 4.2 million jobs for the biobased products industry. He also said greater use of biobased products displaced about 300 million gallons of petroleum annually, an amount he likened to taking 200,000 cars off the road. His article presents these as evidence of an expanding industry; it does not independently validate the estimates.
3. Local and regional food systems
Vilsack pointed to both market growth and USDA support. He cited industry estimates that local food sales grew from $12 billion in 2014 toward a projected $20 billion in 2019. The $20 billion figure was a forecast made in the 2016 article, not a confirmed account of sales in 2019.
For federal support, he said USDA invested more than $1 billion in over 40,000 local and regional food businesses and infrastructure projects between 2009 and 2015. He also cited more than 160,000 farmers and ranchers selling locally. Those counts and investment figures are his reported figures from 2016.
4. Agricultural exports
Vilsack said U.S. agricultural exports exceeded $1 trillion cumulatively since 2009. He associated that performance with a trade surplus and opening or expanding markets. The article offers this as a tenure-level accomplishment, rather than a year-by-year export series or an independently assessed measure of policy impact.
5. Conservation
Vilsack described USDA as partnering with as many as 500,000 farmers and ranchers annually on conservation practices covering more than 400 million acres. He credited the practices with reducing nitrogen and phosphorus runoff and net greenhouse-gas emissions:
- More than 3.5 billion pounds less nitrogen runoff over six years.
- More than 700 million pounds less phosphorus runoff since 2009.
- More than 416 million metric tons less net greenhouse-gas emissions since 2009, which Vilsack compared with taking 12.6 million cars off the road for a year.
These amounts and comparisons are Vilsack’s 2016 claims; the article does not include a separate evaluation verifying them.
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The five items are Vilsack’s chosen categories for a departure-era account, not an independent ranking of the department’s work. Their numbers refer to periods ending in or before 2016, and some are estimates or comparisons rather than directly documented outcomes in the article. In particular, the local-food sales figure for 2019 was still a forecast when he cited it.
A 2016 Successful Farming profile offered broader context on his tenure. American Soybean Association CEO Stephen Censky praised Vilsack as an effective advocate for agriculture, while former Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden described efforts to broaden outreach to new farmers, veterans, women, and minority producers. The profile also recorded criticism from Friends of the Earth Action over Vilsack’s support for ethanol and biotechnology. These views provide context, but neither praise nor criticism independently establishes whether the five accomplishment figures are accurate.
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Later statements show continuity in some of the policy themes, without verifying the earlier claims. In a January 17, 2025, exit interview, Vilsack expressed concern that farm income and the safety net were concentrated among the largest farms, and argued for additional farm revenue sources such as climate-smart agriculture, renewable energy, and local and regional food systems. Separately, a November 19, 2024, USDA Office of Communications release reported nearly $4 billion in conservation assistance benefiting more than 28,500 farmers and ranchers; more than $3 billion in Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities investments since 2022, covering over 21,000 farms and five million acres; and more than 40 climate-smart commodities available to consumers. Those are USDA’s reported program figures for the later period, not confirmation of Vilsack’s 2016 totals.
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