Agri-Pulse interviewed Philip Seng, President and CEO USMEF on Open Mic this week: International trade can be a “gold mine” for beef and pork producers as well as the grain growers they rely on for feed. However, U.S. red meat exports are challenged from lower domestic production and the rising value of the U.S. dollar. In this week’s Open Mic …
Ag Coalition for Cuba Launched
More than 25 companies and organizations launched the U.S. Agriculture Coalition for Cuba (USACC) in Washington Thursday to liberalize trade and re-establish Cuba as a market for U.S. food and agriculture exports. Among the speakers who introduced the new coalition were a list of lawmakers from a variety of states, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Missouri Governor Jay Nixon, and representatives …
Corn Growers Pleased with Chinese Approval for Imports
Syngenta officially announced this week that Chinese regulatory officials have approved for the Agrisure Viptera® trait (event MIR162) formally granting import approval. The approval covers corn grain and processing byproducts, such as dried distillers grains (DDGs). The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) is pleased with the action. “We see this as an encouraging step in what needs to be an …
Sustainably Grown USSEC Markets
National Association of Farm Broadcasting’s Trade Talk led me to the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC) booth where I talked with Laura Foell. She is chairman of the USSEC, member of the United Soybean Board and an Iowa farmer. USSEC is comprised of United Soybean Board, American Soybean Association, state soybean associations and industry members. As a non-profit the council’s …
2014 Ag Exports Officially Set Record
The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released its final total for fiscal year 2014 agricultural exports and they are indeed a new record. The final tally was a big $152.5 billion, an increase of $11.5 billion or eight percent from last year’s record $141 billion. “American farmers and ranchers have once again achieved another year of record exports Agricultural exports …
Grains Council Helping Exports Rebound
With a record corn crop being harvested, exports are more important than ever. The United States exported more than 11 percent of the U.S. corn supply to over 100 countries in the 2013/2014 marketing year, which U.S. Grains Council president and CEO Tom Sleight says is a nice recovery from lost market share after the drought of 2012. “Now it’s …
Governor Branstad at Farm Progress Show
Iowa Governor Terry Branstad paid a visit to the 2014 Farm Progress Show Tuesday and met with some of the show’s international visitors. “I do a lot of international travel to promote what we produce in Iowa,” said Branstad. “We are the leading corn producing state, leading soybean producing state, leading pork producing state, leading egg producing state, we also …
USDA Chinese Trade Mission
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse led a mission to promote U.S. biofuels and agricultural product exports in northeast China May 5-13. The mission was part of President Obama’s “Made in Rural America” export and investment initiative, designed to help rural businesses and leaders take advantage of new investment opportunities and …
More Corn for Export
To the surprise of traders, USDA increased the projection for U.S. corn exports this marketing year, lowering ending stocks in the latest World Agricultural Supply and Demand Estimate (WASDE) report. U.S. feed grain ending stocks for 2013/14 are expected lower with a 150-million-bushel increase projected for corn exports. Jack Scoville of the Price Futures Group discussed the estimates during the …
Farm Progress Show Will Reap International Exports
The nation’s largest outdoor farm show, Farm Progress Show, has been selected to participate in the 2014 International Buyer Program (IBP). This year’s event takes place in Boone, IA, August 26-28. The IBP is an export program led by the U.S. Department of Commerce. It brings thousands of international buyers to the U.S. for business-to-business matchmaking with U.S. companies exhibiting …