Agricultural News
Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese Attends Tri-National Accord
Tue, 22 Nov 2011 12:49:40 CST
Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese attended the Tri-National Agricultural Accord in Grapevine, TX Nov. 15-18th. Pictured is Oklahoma Secretary of Agriculture Jim Reese meeting with past president of Mexico, Vicente Fox, at the 2011 Tri-National Agricultural Accord. The Accord is a forum for information exchange among the U.S. state directors, secretaries and commissioners of agriculture; the Canadian provincial ministers of agriculture; and Mexico's state secretaries of agriculture and rural development. The Accord provides an opportunity for Canadian provinces and U.S. and Mexican states to exchange information, views and suggestions on various aspects of the agriculture and food industries in their respective jurisdictions. The three North American countries serve as significant trading partners for one another.
North America is a significant producer of food and fiber that supports not only the continent but the world. North American farmers produced 1.2 billion metric tons of crops in 2009 which means nearly 6,000 pounds for every person on the continent. North America produces 26% of the world's beef, 13% of the world's pork, and 44% of the world's supply of corn. North American growers produced 139.4 billion eggs in 2009 and 29 million metric tons of poultry meat which equates to 20 eggs and 9 pounds of meat per person on the planet.
There were several challenges and opportunities discussed at the meeting from those in attendance. Commissioner Todd Staples, with the Texas Dept. of Agriculture, expressed his concerns with the lack of tick fever monitoring in TX and boll weevil monitoring in Mexico. The lack of monitoring poses challenges for both the cattle and cotton industries and centers around security issues between the Texas and Mexico border. Paul M. Zmigraski, speaking on behalf of Frito Lay, encouraged an increase in the number of acres of High-Oleic Canola for processing of potato chips across the United States to reduce freight costs from importing.
Other issues discussed include agricultural biotechnology, impacts of foreign animal diseases, emerging animal diseases, coordinating feed standards between the US and Canada, additional food safety regulations, country-of-origin labeling and invasive species.
"The value of the Tri-National Agricultural Accord is that it ensures that agricultural trade and business can continue to flow freely among our three countries," Reese said. "Continuing a dialogue with all fifty states as well as Mexico and Canada means more opportunities for our agricultural producers and more economic development for North America."
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