Agricultural News
Ag Secretary Addresses NCBA Conference
Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:05:53 CDT
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told U.S. cattle producers attending Wednesday's session of the 2010 National Cattlemen's Beef Association Legislative Conference that his department is - focused on developing new markets, especially where the middleclass population is expanding. He noted - we also need to break down unscientific trade barriers and we also need to finalize these pending free trade agreements with Colombia, South Korea and Panama. He hinted that the South Korea agreement could be approved quickly.
The Secretary illustrated the importance of the export marketplace in sustaining U.S. agriculture in terms of profitability and jobs. USDA projects a 31-billion dollar trade surplus next year, compared to a current 27-billion surplus. He said every one-billion in surplus is equivalent to 8-thousand to 9-thousand jobs. He added,- many new opportunities for U.S. exports need to be identified and existing trade barriers need to be resolved.
Meanwhile, the estate tax is top of mind for producers. The Secretary said - we have to make sure the vast majority of agriculture is not impacted by the estate tax. I believe that is the intent of Congress, although they haven't done it yet. The Secretary's thoughts on environmental regulations and the use of antibiotics were also of interest to producers.
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