When it comes to ag exports, there are two sides to the equation: trade and infrastructure.
House Ag Committee Chair, GT Thompson, shares what could be on the radar for Congress this session.
“It won’t be infrastructure in terms of canals, ports which needs to be addressed. We need to modernize in a serious way. I mean we have ports of entry and ports of export. They cannot accommodate these larger shipping vessels that we now have. So, for whatever reason the United States has not kept up with those investments and we need to do that. We need to be able to move our agricultural commodities efficiently.
“We need to make this a place where these companies that operate these vessels want to come to, right? Also, we need to look at some policies, like there’s an awful lot of shipping containers that are going back empty, specifically to China and that’s wrong. We’re buying products and they need to be fulfilling their trade promises and buying our commodities.”
Congressman Thompson says trade was a hot topic at the listening session with farmers this week at the World Ag Expo.
While the agriculture industry hoped details on proposed “bridge” payments for farmers would be released this week, Ag Secretary Brook Rollins said the USDA is still working with the White House on the finer points.
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