Chief Ag Negotiator Says Farm Trade Setting Records

Chief Agricultural Negotiator Doug McKalip says the last couple years in U.S trade have gone well, but there’s room for improvement. Here’s him addressing the Winter Policy Conference of the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture.

“How do we do more in the area of trade? I'll tell you, we've had two years of record farm exports. We're about to set a third year of very, very strong agricultural exports, and we've had three years of record farm income. Even though we've had a record $200 billion in ag exports last year, only about four or five markets around the globe have been responsible for where those commodities go.”

He says USTR understands the need to open up new markets.

“Under 20 percent of U.S. farmers have been involved in getting about 89 percent of the export dollars that the U.S. trades in, and so, that means we need to do everything we can to find new markets to make sure that we are diversifying, to make sure that all commodities, all crop types, are able to be successful in agriculture trade.”