bill northey

Like everyone involved in the trade mission to China, I’m excited for the opportunity to be a part of the USDA delegation and join Acting Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services Michael Scuse as he leads this historic trip. Not only is China a vital agricultural trading partner for the United States, it is also a particularly important market for agricultural exporters in my home state of Iowa.

This trip couldn’t come at a better time. It follows the extremely successful high-level U.S.-China Agricultural Symposium, which was held in Des Moines last month. Iowa was honored to welcome Chinese Vice Premier Xi Jinping, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, and China’s Agriculture Minister Han Changfu, and to help solidify the strong relationship between our countries.

It is my pleasure to be in China, leading USDA’s largest-ever agricultural trade mission in the cities of Chengdu and Shanghai from March 23-28.

I am joined by 39 U.S. businesses representing a wide variety of products, including fresh and frozen produce, dairy, wine, consumer-oriented products, forestry products, and more. Representatives from six state departments of agriculture are also participating, including Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey, Oklahoma Agriculture Secretary Jim Reese, and representatives from North Carolina, Illinois, Kansas, and South Dakota.

During the third day of his visit to Japan, Agriculture Secretary Vilsack had another packed day – starting with a successful bilateral meeting with his Japanese counterpart, and concluding with a series of events commemorating the 50^th anniversary of a 1959 ‘hog lift’ in which Iowa farmers sent 36 hogs to Yamanashi, Japan.