LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – The U.S. economy is in good shape despite rhetoric to the contrary, and agriculture helps significantly by adding surpluses to the U.S. trade balance, CNBC and MSNBC contributor Ron Insana told the audience at the the U.S. Grains Council’s (USGC’s) 56th Annual Board of Delegates Meeting this week.
Insana’s presentation focused on the global economy and the impact of trade on current U.S. policy and politics. His presentation as a keynote speaker stressed the importance of a positive trade environment and continued exports, noting the benefits of the pending Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) trade agreement.
“TPP helps assess the global economic climate,” Insana said. “More jobs have been lost to technology than trade; trade has not hollowed out the middle class.
With continued uncertainty surrounding TPP’s approval, Insana told delegates they needed to share information about how trade benefits them with their fellow farmers as well as policymakers.
“We now have the ability to export a variety of products. It’s vitally important that we continue to do that,” he said. “If we can get the world growing at an average of 3 percent, that could have a huge impact on the global economy and trade overall.”
Insana’s presentation also stressed the importance of agriculture in light of the world’s increasing life expectancy.
“Living for 150 years is no longer a far off reality,” he said, citing the need for biotechnology to food security and the importance of agriculture in the worldwide economy. Mentorship opportunities, he said, present a unique opportunity to engage current business leaders and millennial entrepreneurs in the future of agriculture and trade.
Insana closed by reiterating the need to get out the facts about the value of trade to the U.S. economy.
“Feelings have replaced facts these days,â€� he said, addressing concerns about topics ranging from currency manipulation to economic threats abroad. “In order to create a more positive impression of trade, we need to continue to present facts in a way that creates a positive feeling.”
The USGC summer meeting is an opportunity for farmers, agribusiness representatives and other stakeholders in the U.S. grain trade to gather and discuss critical issues and the organization’s programs to develop grain markets.
Additional information about the meeting agenda, location and more is available here. Those not attending in person can follow along in the digital conversation on Facebook or Twitter #grains16.
Members of the media interested in information from Louisville or scheduling interviews should contact Melissa Kessler, USGC director of communications, at mkessler@grains.org.