It was a good harvest this fall, with many American farmers seeing record yields. But the blessing of a good harvest can also be a burden if you don’t have enough customers for your crops. With the lowest commodity prices on corn and soybeans in more than a decade, farmers need access to more markets if they’re going to keep their farms and our rural economies afloat.
Free trade has changed the business of agriculture for the better. U.S. farmers and ranchers have a well-earned reputation of growing agricultural products for the world. That’s not just homegrown patriotism speaking: Our agricultural export numbers speak for themselves.
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For example, in 2013, 40 per cent of U.S. meat sales by value came from customers outside our borders. And nearly half of the value of fruit and tree nuts grown in the U.S. comes from international sales. Without those markets, many American farmers and ranchers wouldn’t have been able to keep their land in business and in their families. But those are just a couple of slices of the pie that is U.S. agricultural exports.
Some may ask, “If the world loves our products so much, why do we need trade agreements to sell more?” I’d suggest they are simply asking the wrong question. Rather we should ask, “If customers around the world value our agricultural products so much, why is it often so hard for them to get access to them?”
The answer: high tariffs and non-scientific trade barriers. We need a level playing field for our farmers and ranchers to enter new markets overseas, and that’s just what good trade agreements do. Free trade agreements lower tariffs and other restrictions that make our products more expensive and less competitive abroad. Customers in Japan may recognize the high quality of U.S. beef, but it’s a tough sell to convince them to swallow the costs of 38.5 per cent tariffs on an American steak over an Australian steak that only pays 30.5 per cent for chilled and 27.5 per cent for frozen. TPP would give us equal footing.
Where we have established free trade agreements, U.S. agriculture has soared. One of the best examples is our free trade agreement with our nearest neighbours, Canada and Mexico. Since NAFTA was passed over 20 years ago, U.S. agricultural exports to those markets have more than quadrupled. This is not the exception either. Forty-three per cent of our agricultural exports go to the 20 countries we have trade agreements with. Free trade agreements make it easier for customers around the world to buy our products at a fair price, which means billions of dollars in net income for America’s hard-working farm and ranch families.
Free trade makes good business sense for agriculture, and that’s why American Farm Bureau is committed to seeing agreements like the Trans-Pacific Partnership passed. Without TPP, we’re leaving US$4.4 billion in expected income on the table.
Those are sales that can mean thousands of new jobs for rural Americans, sales that can make the difference for a farmer on the verge of selling their farm in today’s down farm economy.
America’s farmers and ranchers are ready and able to feed, fuel and clothe more people around the globe. We need TPP now, so we can share what’s farmed in America with the 95 per cent of the world’s consumers who live outside our borders.
Vincent “Zippy” Duvall, a farmer from Greene County, Georgia, is the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.
