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Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Meeting with China’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack offered the following statement following his meeting today with People’s Republic of China Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian:

“Today I hosted a meeting with my counterpart from the People’s Republic of China, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Affairs Tang Renjian. In addition to addressing outstanding market access issues and other U.S. agricultural stakeholder concerns, we discussed approaches to tackling climate and food security challenges. I emphasized the importance of an enabling environment for innovative technologies and practices to ensure productive and sustainable agriculture systems and to facilitate trade.

“I look forward to further exchanges and cooperation as we continue to forge a relationship that expands and improves market access opportunities for U.S. farmers and ranchers in China, an important agricultural export market.”

Today marked the first meeting since 2015 of the Joint Committee on Cooperation in Agriculture, which was established in 2003 as a forum for coordinating bilateral exchanges and cooperation in agriculture between the United States and China.

Source : usda.gov

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Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

Video: Alberta Honey: A Day at Molenkamp Honey Farms

When was the last time you read the label on your honey?

We spent a day at Molenkamp Honey Farms with Michael Molenkamp, who has been keeping bees for 17 seasons and runs three to four thousand hives. In mid-September, he was finishing treatments and getting his bees ready for winter, and he walked us through how Alberta honey gets made.

Alberta has just 150 commercial beekeepers running 300,000 colonies, and together they produce 40% of Canada’s honey. Long summer days and golden canola fields give Alberta honey a light flavour that’s hard to match anywhere else.

Molenkamp calls Alberta beekeepers some of the most resilient farmers he knows. There’s plenty of Alberta honey to go around, but a lot on our shelves isn’t from here, so his ask is simple. Give the label a second look and choose honey made by Alberta beekeepers, or buy straight from a beekeeper near you.