Tom Vilsack, the newly-appointed Secretary of Agriculture, spoke at the 26th annual Georgia Farmer's Conference at the Hilton Garden Inn in Albany on Saturday.

Ralph Paige, Executive Director of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives, says he has not been happy with Vilsack's predecessors, but believes Vilsack when he told the crowd that food safety is an issue that needs to be addressed.  Paige says the salmonella outbreak is not the fault of the farmers, but rather the manufacturers.

Another issue addressed at the conference was discrimination against minority farmers.