Nearly a year-and-a-half into the Biden administration, key agricultural trade positions remain unfilled, and agriculture may be losing ground. According to former Chief Agriculture Negotiator Gregg Doud, it takes about ten years to see how well a trade deal went. “We’re in a situation if you don’t have anything coming in the pipeline, that can cause problems down the road.” National Association of State Departments of Agriculture CEO Ted McKinney says Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is making an effort to get his former undersecretary of trade post filled. Vilsack told reporters last week there are candidates going through a strict ethics process. “I worry about some of the conditions I’ve heard,” says McKinney. “I heard one candidate said no, because they’ll have to sell the farm. I’m a strong ethics person, but I do not understand the rule that you have to sell the farm.” Aside from ethics, McKinney says U.S. agriculture should not be complacent when it comes to trade, because the moment the U.S. is not at the table, someone else will be.
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