Undersecretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Luke Lindberg spoke on the importance of farmer and rancher involvement in the U.S. Department of Agriculture ag trade programs aimed at promoting U.S. ag exports in the global marketplace.
“We have experienced a remarkable amount of folks who have taken time off the farm to get engaged, to get on these trade missions with us around the world to help facilitate these deals. The magic happens when we get buyers and sellers in the same room,” said Lindberg.
Lindberg also said, “We have deployed $166 million of additional funds out to farmer-led organizations to help get boots on the ground, to help put farmers and ranchers and growers and agribusinesses in front of those buyers. We have led 14 trade missions over the past year to different markets. USDA traditionally does about six or so trade missions a year, and so we’ve more than doubled the amount of opportunities we’ve had to put willing buyers and willing sellers together, and we’re continuing that aggressive march going forward.”
Audio Reporting by Elizabeth Sanders for Southeast AgNet.