During my six years as Secretary of Agriculture, exports of all farm commodities were a high priority-livestock products, fruits, vegetables and especially grains.
An important part of my work as the Secretary of Agriculture was making sure that the United States continued to export U.S. farm commodities at record levels and provide U.S. grains for humanitarian assistance.

The U.S. Grains Council facilitates the delivery, sale, transportation and distribution of U.S. grains overseas.

During my time with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, even before large surpluses existed, we dealt with a depressed market. Prices were down and we had large carry-overs of grain stocks most years.

Over the last few years, the United States has seen a growth in demand in places like China, places where one sees a lot of livestock production and thus a demand for feed grains. And hopefully, working through cooperators, like the Council, the price of grains will increase as well.

U.S. agriculture is one part of the economy that thrives in open markets. Overall, both the agriculture and grains industries have been at the forefront of trying to keep markets open around the world, which I think is good for the United States.

The Council works with USDA overseas, where the U.S. government promotes U.S. products. The Council is more than just selling U.S. products directly, and more than just being a part of humanitarian assistance programs. It is about an effort to market and sell U.S. products overseas to stimulate global economies. This is often done so in a value added situation, where there is more value in the product than just the raw commodity.

I strongly believe that agriculture has to be internationally focused. I think it is important that farmers and U.S. government officials realize that the United States’ ability to survive and flourish economically is dependent on its ability to assist in feeding the populations of many nations beyond the United States.