BLACKSBURG, Virginia (February
1, 2010) -- Virginia Tech's Department of Agricultural and Applied
Economics, the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the
Virginia Farm Bureau Federation, and the Virginia Port Authority will hold a
workshop on the international trade of agricultural products March 3 and 4
in Norfolk, Va.
The workshop, which will focus on the theme
“Agricultural Trade: From Farm, to Port, to the Global Marketplace,” will be
held at the Sheraton Waterside.
“I
don’t think any other state is better situated for global trade than
Virginia,” said Virginia Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry Todd Haymore.
“We not only grow and process a wide variety of products in Virginia, but we
also have a tremendous year-round, ice-free port. Agricultural exports from
Virginia have contributed to the positive side of the state’s trade equation
even in this down economy, exceeding $2 billion annually. Exports create
jobs and they help make farming profitable. Through this workshop, we hope
to give even more of our farmers and producers the information and access
needed to break into the international marketplace.”
The workshop is designed to provide farmers, private
sector businesses, industry officials, and policymakers with a forum to
discuss export opportunities for U.S. and Virginia agriculture, federal, and
state programs to promote agricultural exports, and specific opportunities
and obstacles to agricultural and food exports.
Confirmed conference speakers include:
Richard T. Crowder, former U.S. chief agriculture
trade negotiator and professor of agricultural and applied economics at
Virginia Tech;
Joe Glauber, chief economist for the U.S. Department
of Agriculture;
Alan Grant, dean of the College of Agriculture and
Life Sciences at Virginia Tech;
Larry Pope, CEO of Smithfield Foods; and
Wayne F. Pryor, Virginia Farm Bureau Federation
president.
Representatives from the Virginia Port Authority will
also speak at the workshop. Invited speakers include Virginia Gov. Bob
McDonnell and senior U.S. Department of Agriculture and trade officials from
Washington, D.C.
A new and informative part of this year’s workshop will
be a panel discussion by representatives from Brazil, Canada, and the
European Union who will discuss trade from the perspective of a customer and
competitor of the United States. A senior trade representative from China
has also been invited to speak.
“Agriculture and food exports are important to U.S. farm
income, and U.S. agriculture is losing hundreds of millions of dollars in
market opportunities because of obstacles it faces in exporting products to
countries around the world,” Crowder said. He added, “The importance of
understanding and acting on trade issues and opportunities has never been
greater. This workshop provides a unique opportunity to discuss these trade
issues and opportunities with exporters, national, and state policymakers,
and some of our most important trading partners.”
