USDEC and Other Ag Groups Release Roadmap for Free Trade

 

A coalition of agricultural organizations that includes the U.S. Dairy Export Council, National Milk Producers Federation and the American Farm Bureau Federation has released a trade-focused roadmap to help American agriculture compete and succeed.

 

Global trade plays a key role in that success formula. 

 

"We export 16% of everything that we produce," said USDEC Senior Vice President of Trade Policy Jaime Castaneda. "Without that market access, we (in the dairy industry) wouldn't have the opportunity to grow the way we have been growing."

 

 

At a press conference this week, USDEC and other members of the Farmers For Free Trade coalition offered important policy recommendations, including:

The recommendations captured in the roadmap come after months of planning and discussion. Last summer, town hall meetings were held in five states—Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Michigan and Iowa—to gain input from the agricultural community. USDEC jointly hosted the Wisconsin event together with NMPF. Much of what was learned at those meetings was included in the final report released this week.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.