News

Trade missions important for Wisconsin ag

Wisconsin leaders are working to increase trade opportunities around the world.

State Ag Secretary Randy Romanski tells Brownfield he took part in a trade mission to Kenya last year, and another Wisconsin delegation just returned from Kenya, and Tanzania. “Like many countries in Africa and Southeast Asia, they are really focused on trying to increase the amount and the quality of some of their food, and some of the most important things they are looking at are dairy products.”

Dr. Keith Poulson from the Wisconsin Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory was part of the recent trade mission. He says, “Our goal there was to meet with different stakeholders with USDA’s Foreign Agriculture Service to support and further develop and increase those African markets for Wisconsin genetics and dairy products.”

Another trade mission leaves next week for Morocco, and Romanski says Morocco gives Wisconsin tremendous opportunities for trade since they have major shipping ports along Africa’s coast. “There are tremendous opportunities for Wisconsin and midwestern states to have additional grain shipments from Wisconsin, from the Great Lakes to Morocco.”

Agriculture creates 116.3 billion dollars in annual economic impact in Wisconsin, and Romanski says it’s not just one or two products. “We market our products, genetics, and technology all around the world when it comes to dairy, but we’ve also got cranberries, ginseng, mink pelts, all different kinds of vegetables, potatoes, livestock, meat products. That’s what Wisconsin has to offer the world and we are really fortunate as a state to have that diversity.”

Romanski says trade missions are often done in partnership with the USDA or with the National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA), but some are organized in state.  Wisconsin’s Department of Agriculture, Trade, and Consumer Protection is seeking food processors to share booth space at Gulfood, a food show in Dubai this coming February and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation is organizing a trade mission to Mexico, also in February.