Trade Agreements Boost Farm Exports

This is Tim Hammerich of the Ag Information Network with your Farm of the Future Report.

Strong export demand remains critical for U.S. farmers. The Trump administration has said they’ve worked to negotiate new trade agreements to help drive that demand. USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Affairs Luke Lindberg says those efforts are already opening new markets for U.S. products, with more agreements still to come.

Lindberg… “ Coming into the administration after four years with zero trade agreements, the president has now signed nine trade agreements and has nine framework agreements which are really the construct for the next nine. So 18 different agreements with countries around the world opening up very real market access. Across the board, we've seen tremendous new wins for farmers and ranchers—best year ever for US exports of ag products. We're continuing to see new markets. We have seven markets where we're hitting export records this year. And it's also across a variety of product lines. Corn exports at a top ever this year. Dairy exports, best ever this year. We have seen ethanol exports best ever this year. Tree nuts are probably going to set a record this year as well. So we're seeing that across the board. US agriculture is back and is winning.”

Lindberg says every trade agreement is negotiated with U.S. farmers and ranchers in mind.