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USDA Trade Mission to Spain will Boost Export Opportunities for U.S. Agribusinesses

USDA Trade Mission to Spain will Boost Export Opportunities for U.S. Agribusinesses

More than 30 agribusinesses and farm organizations will visit Madrid, Spain, from Nov. 29 through Dec. 2, for a trade mission sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Members of the delegation will engage directly with potential buyers from Spain and Portugal, receive in-depth market briefs from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) and industry trade experts, and participate in site visits.

Spain is the third-largest European Union destination for agricultural products from the United States, with Portugal ranking 11th. The Iberian Peninsula is a major gateway to Europe for agricultural products from the United States, with numerous ports of entry, including Lisbon and Valencia.

“One of the key goals of this USDA trade mission is to highlight both our commonalities and what truly sets U.S. foods and ingredients apart from our competitors in the region,” said FAS Associate Administrator Clay Hamilton. “America’s farmers, ranchers, and producers have a compelling story to tell about the quality and sustainability of their agricultural production and we’re confident that their story will resonate with buyers, result in sales, and provide a boost to the agriculture industry back at home.”

Officials from the Alabama, Indiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Texas, Vermont, and Wisconsin agriculture departments and the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture, as well as representatives from the following companies and organizations will join Hamilton on this trade mission:

  • Al Kharyrat International USA, Inc., Piscataway, N.J.
  • American Softwoods, Metairie, La.
  • Attebury Grain LLC, Amarillo, Texas
  • Blue Diamond Growers, Sacramento, Calif.
  • California Walnut Commission, Sacramento, Calif.
  • Cal Ranch, Inc., Concord, Calif.
  • Commercial Lynks Inc., Alexandria, Va.
  • F3 Vineyards, Inc., Las Vegas, Nev.
  • Food Export Midwest, Chicago, Ill.
  • Gulf Coast Cooperative, Robstown, Texas
  • Hansen Mueller, Co., Omaha, Neb.
  • Herr Foods, Inc. Nottingham, Pa.
  • Jack’s Alimentary Supply, Inc., Lowell, Mass.
  • JM Grain, Garrison, N.D.
  • Mariani Nut Company, Winters, Calif.
  • Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotion Council, Mankato, Minn.
  • Patriots Hardwoods, Inc., Milltown, N.J.
  • Pennington Distilling, Co., Nashville, Tenn.
  • Premium Peanuts, Douglas, Ga.
  • Quon Yick International Inc., El Monte, Calif.
  • Route66 International Inc., Hackensack, N.J.
  • Royal G Snacks, Inc., Tampa, Fla.
  • Southern Forest Products Association, Metairie, La.
  • The Spirit Guild, Los Angeles, Calif.
  • USA Rice, Arlington, Va.
  • U.S. Grains Council, Washington, D.C.
  • U.S. Livestock Genetics Export, Inc., Mount Horeb, Wis.
  • U.S. Soybean Export Council, Chesterfield, Mo.
  • Vanilla Saffron Imports, San Francisco, Calif.
  • Western United States Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA), Vancouver, Wash.
  • Willamette Hazelnut, Inc., Newberg, Ore.
  • Whistling Andy Distillery, Bigfork, Mont.

For additional information about the Spain-Portugal trade mission, visit: https://fas.usda.gov/topics/trade-missions/spain-and-portugal-november-2022

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. Under the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America’s food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, promoting competition and fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate-smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit https://www.usda.gov/

Source : usda.gov

Trending Video

Moving Ag Research Forward Through Collaboration

Video: Moving Ag Research Forward Through Collaboration



BY: Ashley Robinson

It may seem that public and private researchers have different goals when it comes to agricultural research. However, their different strategies can work in tandem to drive agricultural research forward. Public research may focus more on high-risk and applied research with federal or outside funding, while private sector researchers focus more on research application.

“For me, the sweet spot for public private sector research is when we identify problems and collaborate and can use that diverse perspective to address the different aspects of the challenge. Public sector researchers can work on basic science high risk solutions as tools and technologies are developed. They then can work with their private sector partners who prototype solutions,” Mitch Tuinstra, professor of plant breeding and genetics in Purdue University’s Department of Agronomy, said during the Jan. 10 episode of Seed Speaks.

Public researchers they have the flexibility to be more curiosity driven in their work and do discovery research. This is complimentary to private research, which focuses on delivering a product, explained Jed Christianson, canola product design lead for Bayer CropScience, explained during the episode.

“As a seed developer, we worry about things like new crop diseases emerging. Having strong public sector research where people can look into how a disease lifecycle cycle works, how widespread is it and what damage it causes really helps inform our product development strategies,” he added.

It’s not always easy though to develop these partnerships. For Christianson, it’s simple to call up a colleague at Bayer and start working on a research project. Working with someone outside of his company requires approvals from more people and potential contracts.

“Partnerships take time, and you always need to be careful when you're establishing those contracts. For discoveries made within the agreement, there need to be clear mechanisms for sharing credits and guidelines for anything brought into the research to be used in ways that both parties are comfortable with,” Christianson said.

Kamil Witek, group leader of 2Blades, a non-profit that works with public and private ag researchers, pointed out there can be limitations and challenges to these partnerships. While private researchers are driven by being able to make profits and stay ahead of competitors, public researchers may be focused on information sharing and making it accessible to all.

“The way we deal with this, we work in this unique dual market model. Where on one hand we work with business collaborators, with companies to deliver value to perform projects for them. And at the same time, we return the rights to our discoveries to the IP to use for the public good in developing countries,” Witek said during the episode.

At the end of the day, the focus for all researchers is to drive agricultural research forward through combining the knowledge, skills and specializations of the whole innovation chain, Witek added.

“If there's a win in it for me, and there's a win in it for my private sector colleagues in my case, because I'm on the public side, it’s very likely to succeed, because there's something in it for all of us and everyone's motivated to move forward,” Tuinstra said.