USDA official says ag exports recovering
By Mark Coddington, The Grand Island Independent
United States ag exports are poised to weather the economic recession well, a federal trade official said on Thursday at a conference in Kearney.
"We are, in fact, witnessing the beginning of a U.S. agricultural trade recovery," said Darci Vetter, the deputy undersecretary for farm and foreign agricultural services with the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Vetter, an Aurora native, cited projections that U.S. agricultural exports could hit $100 billion in the 2010 fiscal year, their second-highest total ever.
Vetter, an Aurora native, cited projections that U.S. agricultural exports could hit $100 billion in the 2010 fiscal year, their second-highest total ever.
Agricultural exports had fallen from $115.3 billion during the 2008 fiscal year to $96.6 billion in 2009, but even 2009's total was nearly double what the United States had exported just more than a decade ago, Vetter said.
Vetter's outlook was welcome news to her audience on Thursday at the Governor's Ag Conference in Kearney.
Both the value and volume of the United States' ag exports is projected to increase by about 4 percent over last year, Vetter said.
The biggest increase is projected in oil seeds, spurred primarily by a strong cotton market worldwide and a booming soybean market in China.
Vetter said China's growth as an importer of U.S. agricultural goods goes beyond just soybeans, as the country is emerging as the United States' strongest agricultural trade partner outside North America, surpassing Japan.
"At its current rate, China could pass Mexico and Canada as our leading export market in just a few years," Vetter said.
The United States plans to push more aggressively to open new agricultural markets and enforce existing trade agreements through the National Export Initiative, which President Obama announced in his State of the Union address in January.
The United States saw a breakthrough in that area just this week, as Russia announced it would lift its ban on importing American pork.
Vetter said trade agreements are also in the works with Colombia, Panama and South Korea. The Korean market has been an especially coveted and contentious one for beef producers, and Vetter said the Obama administration would continue to push hard for an agreement to be accepted.
The Obama administration will also aggressively pursue violations of trade agreements the United States has already established, including potential legal action through the World Trade Organization, she said.
"Enforcing our existing trade agreements is just as important to maintaining market access as negotiating new deals," Vetter said.
"Enforcing our existing trade agreements is just as important to maintaining market access as negotiating new deals," Vetter said.
That obligation extends to the United States' own trade commitments, even though it can sometimes run counter to the impulse to buy American, Vetter said, responding to a question about whether the U.S. might consider leaving the North American Free Trade Agreement, known as NAFTA. (It would not, she said.)
"If we want other countries to (honor their agreements), we have to do the same," she said.
Vetter just began her Department of Agriculture position two weeks ago after serving with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Senate Finance Committee.
Vetter just began her Department of Agriculture position two weeks ago after serving with the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and the Senate Finance Committee.
She grew up on a farm north of Aurora and said that experience has given her valuable insight as she works in the world of international agricultural trade.
"What we're really talking about is access for our producers, and I really try to keep that in mind every day," Vetter said.
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