Northeast Missouri was buzzing with excitement this week, when President Obama toured the area as part of his White House to Main Street Tour. During his travels, Obama made an unannounced stop at Peggy Sue’s Café in Monroe City, Mo., where he treated the diners to lunch and discussed biofuels, healthcare, education and agriculture alongside Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. It was then on to Macon, Mo., where Obama and Vilsack toured the state’s first ethanol plant, Poet Biorefining. The President praised the company on its success and remarked on the future of biofuels and economic recovery. After leaving Macon, Obama and Vilsack visited the farm of Lowell Schachtsiek in Palmyra, Mo., where the Schachtsiek family discussed health insurance and the future of American agriculture. Read the President’s remarks.
— by Dana Rogge, outreach coordinator, Missouri Farm Service Agency
