trade

Did you know…

…that small family farms account for most U.S. farms and for a majority of farm assets?

…that nonmetro areas declined in population--perhaps for the first time--in 2011-12?

…or that the inflation-adjusted value of SNAP benefits declined from 2009 to 2011?

The United States has free trade agreements with 20 countries around the world that expand export opportunities for U.S. food and agricultural producers.  To help exporters obtain information about tariff reductions resulting from these FTAs, the Foreign Agricultural Service recently launched the Agricultural Tariff Tracker.

“The tracker was developed in response to requests from the agricultural export community for more detailed information about export opportunities resulting from FTAs,” said Jeff Jones, a senior policy advisor with FAS. “Though we’ve seen significant expansion in U.S. agricultural exports as a result of our trade agreements, there will be even more opportunities for U.S. agricultural exporters in the future as tariffs continue to fall throughout implementation,” he said. “Providing more information in a user-friendly format will allow exporters to maximize the potential of these agreements.”

Earlier this year, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) published the first Livestock Mandatory Reporting (LMR) Wholesale Pork reports.  This was the culmination of a process that started when Congress passed the Mandatory Price Reporting Act of 2010, which added wholesale pork cuts to the commodities required to be reported by packers.  Cattle, swine, sheep, boxed beef, boxed lamb, and imported lamb meat already were covered under the program.

Using negotiated rulemaking – a process that allows more interaction with stakeholders than formal rulemaking – AMS developed the rule with the Wholesale Pork Reporting Negotiated Rulemaking Committee, which included pork producers, pork packers, processors, retailers, buyers, and other interested stakeholders.  By working directly with a range of stakeholders, USDA ensured that the final rule had support throughout the industry.

Each Veteran’s Day, the country takes a moment to recognize our troops for their commitment and dedication to the nation. The experiences of our veterans show how military service intersects with the mission of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) in unexpected ways. As we prepare for the holiday, AMS would like to thank all of our veterans for their service and their sacrifice and also highlight a few members of our staff willing to share their stories.

Este mes, el Servicio de Comercialización Agrícola (AMS) está llevando a cabo un seminario sobre los servicios y programas de  la agencia en español. El seminario titulado, Una introducción a las Noticias de Mercado de Frutas y Hortalizas del USDA, será el jueves 15 de Noviembre desde las 14:00 a las 15:00 hora del este. El seminario proporcionará información sobre cómo utilizar el portal de Noticias de Mercado. A  través del portal, los usuarios pueden generar informes gratis, modificados para sus requisitos particulares sobre precios, embarques, volumen y otra información detallada sobre cientos de productos agrícolas en mercados mayoristas nacionales e internacionales, áreas de producción y puertos de entrada. Dr. Luis Fernando Palmer, Jefe de la Sección de Reportes Internacionales de Noticias de Mercado de Frutas y Hortalizas del AMS, les explicará cómo funciona el portal y cómo su empresa u organización puede beneficiarse de la información.

This month, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is holding a webinar about agency services and programs in Spanish.  The webinar, entitled, An Introduction to USDA's Fruit and Vegetable Market News, will be Thursday, Nov. 15, 2012, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. Eastern time.  The webinar will provide insight and information on using the Market News portal.  Through the portal, users can generate free, customized reports on pricing, shipping, volume and other detailed information for hundreds of agricultural commodities at domestic and international wholesale markets, production areas and ports of entry.  Dr. Luis Fernando Palmer, AMS Fruit and Vegetable Market News international reports branch chief, will explain how the portal works and how your business can benefit from the information.

Over the last three years, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has worked with the peanut and dairy industries to create a government-hosted electronic trade document repository. The eTrade Document Exchange (eTDE) System, funded by USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service through the Market Access Program, makes electronic trade documents, including official certificates, available securely through the Internet to facilitate the domestic and international movement of U.S. agricultural products.

This system provides users with the ability to access commodity-related trade documents as PDF files that can be used to verify hard copy documents or to eliminate the use of hard copy documents entirely. It allows authorized product owners, buyers, carriers, brokers, and government port agents access to critical information around the clock and around the world.

USDA collaborates with trade associations to provide this information as an export service to the supply chain. The certificates available in the repository are provided by a variety of document providers. Some certificates are provided by USDA, some by programs under department certification, and some from commercial sources that operate independently. USDA validates the identity of each document provider and has security controls in place to ensure that certificate data obtained from providers remains unaltered once it is posted to the site.

In a collaborative effort, USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service, Foreign Agricultural Service and the U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) recently published a revised list of beef cuts.  The list now includes U.S. cuts, based on USDA standards, available for export to Chile under the existing Free Trade Agreement. The addition of the new cuts, listed next to their Chilean equivalent, will allow U.S. producers to send more products to Chile.

The U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement became effective January 1, 2004, and was the first such arrangement with a South American country.  It provides America’s farmers, ranchers, food processors, and their businesses improved, and in many cases, new access to Chile’s market of 15 million consumers. The Free Trade Agreement calls for duty-free access on all products and addresses other trade measures for both countries.

It has been said that the most successful person in life (and in business) is often the one who has the best information.  For almost a century USDA Market News has been providing farmers, ranchers and businesses with the best market and pricing information.  Our real-time commodity reports, produced by the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), provide quick and easy access to volume and price information for boxed beef, cattle, hogs, and sheep.

Edward Avegalio fought for his country in Operation Desert Shield in the early 1990s. Today, he serves his country by providing locally grown, fresh produce to area schools, local restaurants and stores through the first hydroponic farm in American Samoa that was redesigned to allow him to actively work the land.