Rogue Creamery representatives display some of their popular cheeses during a 2011 international trade show in Hong Kong. The Oregon company credits the Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) Market Access Program (MAP) and industry partners for helping the company expand international sales of its award-winning cheeses. (Courtesy Photo)

For 80 years, Rogue Creamery has been passionate about the art of cheese making. This small company located in Oregon’s scenic Rogue River Valley produces a variety of handcrafted artisan cheeses using milk from its dairies. Its blue cheeses are considered “ambassadors” for the American Artisan and Farmstead cheese movements. Rogue Creamery credits the Foreign Agricultural Service’s (FAS) Market Access Program (MAP) and industry partners for helping the company expand sales of its award-winning cheeses. Read more »

A dairy cow from Ronnybrook Dairy Farm. With the help of the Agricultural Marketing Service’s export certificates, dairy producers and manufacturers can send their products to 104 countries. Photo courtesy of Garrett Ziegler

Last year marked the first time in U.S. history that our dairy farmers produced more than 200 billion pounds of milk. This was the highest year over year increase since 2004-2005 and a 5.7 billion pound increase from the previous year. In recent years, more than two-thirds of the growing demand for U.S. farm milk has been for dairy exports. Read more »

The theme for this year’s USDA Agricultural Outlook Forum is centered on managing risk in today’s markets. The forum will feature several international trade sessions highlighting strategies, challenges, and prospects for growth for U.S. agricultural exporters.

One of the international trade sessions, “Prospects for Export Growth in Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey,” will feature a panel of experts highlighting the many promising market opportunities for these countries. Commonly known as MIST, these markets accounted for more than 21 percent of U.S. exports with shipments reaching $29 billion compared to $18 billion only five years ago.

Panelists include Mitch Skalicky, the U.S. Wheat Associates Regional Vice President for Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean; Dennis Voboril, a returning USDA agricultural counselor from Indonesia; Michael Francom, a returning agricultural attaché from South Korea; and Kyd D. Brenner of DTB Associates, LLP, discussing Turkey. Read more »

The prosperity of American agriculture provides us with a secure and abundant food supply here at home – and tremendous opportunity to export quality U.S. products across the globe.

Today, the American brand of agriculture is surging in popularity worldwide. Fiscal years 2009-2012 represent the strongest four years in history for agricultural trade, with U.S. agricultural product exports exceeding $478 billion over these four years.

2013 is off to a roaring start already – with agricultural exports on track to set a new record.

This week has brought especially good news for America’s beef producers. On Monday, the Government of Japan—which represents our fourth largest agricultural export market—announced an agreement to expand access for U.S. beef. We estimate that this new agreement will result in hundreds of millions of dollars in economic benefits for the U.S. economy in the coming years. Read more »

The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) office in Ottawa, through its food and beverage alliance, tasteUS!, recently launched a new website that provides Canadians with information on top quality U.S.-grown food and the more than 40 U.S. cooperators whose products are found in grocery stores across Canada.

“Our tasteUS! website is a great tool for Canadians in helping them understand the agricultural goods imported from the U.S. that are available to them. We’re promoting a ‘buy regionally’ approach that can bring down grocery costs – especially in the winter months when Canadian produce is scarcer,” said Scott Reynolds, FAS Minister-Counselor for Agricultural Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa.

Found at www.tasteUS.ca, the website has detailed information on tasteUS! affiliated cooperators, relevant news articles, facts on nutrition and recipes provided by the cooperators. It allows Canadians to educate themselves about the food and beverages imported into Canada from the United States – from fresh fruit like apples, pears and peaches, to vegetables such as tomatoes, to wine, beer and fruit juices – and the producers behind it all. Some of the cooperators represent commodities not grown in Canada, such as papaya and catfish. Access to these types of foods gives Canadians even more options to support their healthy food choices. Read more »

The past four years have been tremendously positive for America’s efforts to export more agricultural goods and products around the world.

The brand of American agriculture is soaring worldwide. In fact, 2009 to 2012 represents the best four years in our nation’s history for agricultural exports. Exports have grown more than 50% over that period of time.

We have reason to believe that more good news is ahead. Recently, USDA economists forecast agricultural product exports for next year to exceed $145 billion. That would set yet another new record – and it would allow agricultural exports to continue supporting more than a million jobs. Read more »