News

Iowa ag secretary begins trade mission

Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey left today on a trade mission to South Korea and Japan.

Northey is joined by officials of several Iowa ag groups, including pork, beef, corn and soybean producers.  The group will be in South Korea this week before moving on to Japan next week. 

In Japan, they will join up with U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack for meetings with Japanese officials.  Pressure has been mounting on the USDA to address lingering beef export issues with the Japanese.  Northey agrees it’s an issue that needs to be discussed.

“We really need to,” says Northey. “Back in the early 2000’s—2002, 2003—we sold over a billion dollars worth of beef.  We are not back to those levels yet, although the last few years, those numbers have started to go up—and they certainly should go up faster than they have been going.”

But Northey says it’s a fine line on just how much pressure can and should be applied on the beef issue, considering that Japan is already the number one market for U.S. pork and a top customer for many other U.S. ag products.

AUDIO: Bill Northey (4:30 mp3)

Link to Iowa Department of Agriculture news release