Ag Secretary Sonny Perdue is out on another “Back to Our Roots” tour, this time to the Pacific Northwest, as well as Alaska. Perdue says he’s hopeful that a new North American Free Trade Agreement can be reached with Mexico very soon. “We believe we’ve got many of the agreements in principle ready to go there,” he says. Perdue told reporters at several stops that the U.S. will likely get an agreement with Mexico first. “After that, we’ll move on to Canada and get those remaining issues resolved,” he added. At a stop in the rolling wheat fields of eastern Oregon, trade was a big topic of conversation.
A producer pointed out during a question-and-answer session that the price of wheat dropped from $7 to $6 a bushel. Between 85 and 90 percent of Oregon’s wheat heads overseas. Perdue continued to say that USDA is working on a “compensatory mitigation strategy” to help producers in Oregon, as well as around the nation, but once again didn’t provide many specifics. The farm bill has been another big topic of conversation, with Perdue saying he’s very optimistic it will get passed in Congress before the current legislation expires.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasters News