Wheat leaders like what Obama said about trade
Farm and Ranch February 1, 2010 National wheat grower leaders say they were thrilled to hear that President Obama plans to give trade a more prominent role in his administration’s economic recovery agenda. Here is part of what Obama said in his State of the Union address. Obama: “If America sits on the sidelines while other nations sign trade deals we will lose the chance to create jobs on our shores.” We couldn’t agree more say Karl Scronce, President of the National Association of Wheat Growers and Janice Mattson chair of U.S. Wheat Associates. The President said he was creating a national export initiative. Obama: “That will help farmers and small businesses increase their exports.” Scronce and Mattson say an ideal way to kick-start that initiative would be to finalize the pending U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement. That FTA is the wheat industry’s top trade priority and the key to maintaining more than 90-million dollars in wheat exports to Colombia every year. The national wheat leaders say the Colombia agreement and other pending trade agreements with South Korea and Panama will quickly bring more money home to farmers and small, rural businesses. They say it would also enhance America’s already strong agricultural exports, estimated at nearly 97-billion dollars in fiscal 2009. Scronce and Mattson encourage the Administration to send these agreements to Capitol Hill, and Congress to approve them as soon as possible. They also urge the Senate to resolve issues holding key trade official appointments. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network. ? ? ?
