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I think this is what 4-H is all about, you who stand in front of me. And because I'm a part of the 4-H family myself, I think I can promise you two things without hesitation. First, these qualities that I mentioned -- leadership, community service, citizenship -- are going to stand by you and serve you well in your years to come. Don't ever forget who you are. You have a great advantage, being a part of 4-H, being part of an organization that's so diverse, so complex, so dynamic.

You know, when I think about agriculture today, it's a different enterprise than when I grew up on that dairy farm in Mitchell County, Iowa, but some things, I would suggest to you, will never change. A life on a farm isn't easy, and I see a head or two nodding in agreement. You know what it's like to get up in the morning to do chores, to finish long after dark. But I wouldn't trade that experience for anything in the world. Growing up on that farm taught me discipline, it taught me a very strong work ethic, it taught me commitment to purpose. It also gave me mentors and heroes that I looked up to when I was growing up. They were the farmers that I admire even today.

And I promise you something else. If you pursue a career in agriculture, really, in any capacity -- maybe you'll be in research, maybe you'll be in farming or ranching -- I strongly urge you to pick this career. I promise you, you're going to find it enormously rewarding. This nation really is built on hard work, the solid values, the character, the contributions of rural America. Heroes are found in our small communities. Traditional values are still a part of their life. These things, as I suggested to you, haven't really changed, and they give you a foundation for meeting head-on all that has changed in American agriculture.

More than ever in our history, ladies and gentlemen, you'll be a part of an international, dynamic industry. I can tell you plainly and honestly that I've never seen opportunities like this in the agriculture sector.

My friends, it will be your generation that will realize the goal of bringing renewable fuels into our everyday lives. I believe bioenergy from agriculture offers the rural economy its biggest new market in history. The implications for rural America of this booming energy source are truly enormous.

As high school students at this very historic moment in U.S. agriculture, you're right on the edge of one of these points in history that will be a defining moment. I'd love to wind back the clock, stand in your shoes and move forward, but that is in your hands now. And I'll tell you what, I am absolutely comfortable with that. I have so much confidence in each of you. Your opportunities as leaders, as wise stewards of our resources, as strong citizens, are boundless. I urge you to make the most of them - hopefully, in a career in agriculture. Agriculture needs you and the nation needs the best and the brightest, and you're it. And remember, as newsman Tom Brokaw once said, "You know, it's easy to make a buck. It's a lot harder to make a difference."