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Minnesota farmer to attend Phase One signing at White House

A Minnesota farmer will be among the attendees of the phase one signing ceremony in Washington tomorrow.

Theresia Gillie, who grows soybeans and wheat in the northwest corner of the state, tells Brownfield she hopes the U.S. and China can start rebuilding their trade relationship.

“And this is a really great step forward into recapturing those markets.”

She says the positive trade news has sparked optimism.

“This is a nice light at the end of our tunnel. We’ve had these terrible down markets, and we’re hoping with the signing of this agreement we can get those markets back on the uptick.”

And Gillie is anxious to see details of phase one.

“A lot of what’s on the fact sheets deal with intellectual property, agriculture, and reopening those markets back up.”

Gillie, a past president of the Minnesota Soybean Growers Association, isn’t sure why the White House invited her to the signing ceremony. But she says Minnesota Senator Mark Johnson encouraged her to go.