Vilsack to Vietnam

Vilsack to Vietnam

Vilsack Going to Vietnam. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.

Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is headed to Vietnam next month. Vietnam has jumped from the fiftieth (50) to fifteenth (15) position as a market for U.S. farm exports in the past decade.

VILSACK: Well it’s a amazing opportunity for us to continue to promote the American brand of American agriculture in Vietnam and in Asia. Vietnam is a country I think that understands the importance of modern agricultural technology including biotechnology so it’s an opportunity for us to get an ally in that effort. It’s also an opportunity for us to continue to build on the enormous growth that we’ve seen in that market in the last 15 years going from $175 million dollars in ag trade to $2.3 billion; a 7500% increase. A tremendous opportunity for us to further strengthen the relationship and hopefully lead to expanded export opportunities.

He hopes that this will add to the already record export year we have been having. They plan to be there in mid-November.

VILSACK: It’s a 4 or 5 day swing through China and Vietnam. It’s an opportunity for us to reiterate the fact that every time we add a billion dollars of sales of agricultural exports we also not only generate improved incomes for farmers and ranchers but also as important in this struggling economy, more jobs. 84-hundred more jobs every time a billion dollars of ag sales is increased.

Vilsack says that they will talk about a full range of ag products to export.

VILSACK: Opportunities for us in particular to talk about our livestock opportunities which we think are pretty important. It’s a chance for us to build on the Korean Free Trade Agreement which I think is going to open some doors in Asia, particularly on the beef side. There’ll be fruits and vegetables as well. It’s a broad array of products. And you know this underscores the importance of ag exports, it underscores the importance of the infrastructure that allows us to get product to market more quickly. It’s one of the reasons why we’ve been talking a lot about the need for us to rebuild the infrastructure in this country.

And at this point there are no firm deadlines for getting trade opened up.

VILSACK: It’s hard to say. It’s negotiating contracts and things of our nature but our hope is that over the course of the next year we continue to see expanded trade opportunities. Our hope is that in our discussions with the Chinese that we continue to see some market progress towards reopening the beef market. Our hope is the Korean Free Trade agreement in addition to Korean exports increasing that perhaps the Japanese, maybe they become a bit more open to reopening the beef trade. All of that could be helpful to American producers

That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network. 

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