Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Record Agricultural Exports for First Half of Fiscal Year 2011

Statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Record Agricultural Exports for First Half of Fiscal Year 2011

WASHINGTON, May 11, 2011–Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack made the following statement on data released today showing that U.S. farm exports reached an all-time high of $75 billion during the first half of fiscal year 2011:
"Today's trade data demonstrate that, once again, America's farmers and ranchers are helping lead the way to recovery from the worst economic recession in decades. The gains in U.S. agricultural exports are particularly encouraging news for those who live in rural America or earn a living in farming, ranching and agriculture-related industries, because exports are creating jobs here at home. Farm exports alone will support more than one million jobs in America this year. Strong U.S. farm exports will be a key contributor to building an economy that continues to grow, innovate and out-compete the rest of the world.
"At $75 billion, U.S. agricultural exports for FY 2011 are 27 percent higher than the same period in last year. This puts us on track to reach the current USDA export forecast of $135.5 billion by the end of the year.
"As expected, China is our top export market. With $15.1 billion in farm exports, China accounted for nearly 20 percent of all U.S. agricultural exports. Canada is our second-largest market.
"Both the value and volume of exports rose in the first half of the year, with the volume of bulk shipments up 5 percent from last year. Wheat and cotton volumes were especially robust, with increases of 64 percent 44 percent, respectively.
"March was the highest-grossing month for U.S. agricultural exports ever. During that month alone, U.S. farmers and ranchers exported $13.3 billion worth of U.S. agricultural goods. That's $407 million more than the previous record set in November 2010.
"Congress can help U.S. farmers and ranchers sustain their record growth by moving expeditiously to pass the South Korea, Colombia and Panama trade agreements. When fully implemented, those three agreements have potential to add more than $2 billion per year to our exports and support job creation here at home. Gains like these will help farmers and ranchers continue to contribute to President Obama's National Export Initiative goal of doubling all U.S. exports by 2014."
The latest export data is available via the Global Agricultural Trade System at http://www.fas.usda.gov/data.asp
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Vilsack on trade agreements

Release No. 0208.11
Contact:
USDA Office of Communications (202) 720-4623

Remarks as Prepared for Delivery: Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack Before the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2011 – Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today spoke before the U.S. House Committee on Agriculture:
"Mr. Chairman, members of the Committee, I am pleased to appear before you today to discuss the pending trade agreements with South Korea, Colombia, and Panama, U.S. agricultural exports, and the capacity of exports to create economic opportunities in our rural communities.
"Over the past two years, as the nation has rebounded from the worst recession in decades, American agriculture has helped lead our recovery by shattering trade records and creating jobs. In fiscal year 2011, U.S. agricultural exports are forecast to reach a record high of $135.5 billion – up nearly 27 billion from the prior year – with a record trade surplus of $47.5 billion. They will help support more than 1.1 million jobs nationwide. Just yesterday, we learned that U.S. farm exports reached an all-time high of $75 billion in first half of fiscal year 2011. That is up 27 percent from the same period last year, and keeps us on track to hit the forecast.
"And our pending trade agreements will help continue that successful story.
"These three trade agreements will create jobs. Through agricultural exports alone, they will yield over $2.3 billion in sales and help support more than 19,000 American jobs in agriculture and related industries.
"The Korea agreement is a trade opportunity we cannot afford to pass up – worth an expected $1.9 billion annually to ag producers. Sixty percent of the items that we currently trade to Korea will be duty free immediately, including corn, soybeans for crush, cotton, cherries, and orange and grape juice. Other commodities – such as meat, poultry and dairy – will see tariffs and duties reduced over a period of time, creating tremendous opportunity for us to grow our export opportunities.
"The Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement also contains good news for U.S. agriculture. Currently, no U.S. agricultural exports enjoy duty-free access to Colombia, with most applied tariffs ranging from 5 to 20 percent. But on day one of implementation, U.S. exporters will receive duty-free treatment on products accounting for almost 70 percent of current trade. When implementation is complete, we expect it to increase our agricultural exports by 44 percent – an additional $370 million per year.
"In Panama, U.S. agricultural exports have been on the rise, growing to over $450 million in 2010. Our agreement with them will continue this progress – with an additional $46 million in annual sales upon full implementation. Tariffs on 68 percent of Panama's agricultural tariff lines, accounting for more than half of current U.S. trade by value, would be eliminated by the agreement.
"It is critical for U.S. agriculture that we work together to move the three pending trade agreements as part of our broader trade agenda. Today, Korea, Columbia and Panama have approved or are negotiating trade agreements with a host of other nations, including the E.U., Canada, Mexico and New Zealand. Completing these three trade agreements will level the playing field with some competitors, and secure better markets for U.S. agriculture ahead of others.
"These trade agreements represent an important cornerstone of our strategy to continue to increase agricultural trade – but USDA is involved in a host of other efforts.
"Thanks to the President's National Export Initiative, which challenged U.S. businesses to double all exports by the end of 2014, USDA is reaching out to producers and agribusinesses, especially small- and medium-sized enterprises, with information about how to tackle the export market and financing to make it happen. Whether it means helping small businesses attend trade shows, or directly connecting U.S. companies and trade groups with foreign customers by bringing them to the country, we are working to expand opportunities for agricultural trade.
"We have focused many of our efforts in developing countries with a growing middle class and increased purchasing power for high quality U.S. agricultural products. It is one of the reasons we sent trade missions to Indonesia and Peru this year, and why China became our biggest export market last year.
"We are engaged in non-stop efforts to break down sanitary and phytosanitary and technical barriers, advocating forcefully for the interests of American agriculture with other nations. USDA has also addressed export barriers to U.S. specialty crops, facilitating new exports and preventing disruptions that would have affected hundreds of millions of dollars in exports in Indonesia and the European Union.
"When I travel the country –especially rural America – and talk about trade, the message I hear is simple: We need an economy that makes, creates, and innovates. And we need a nation that exports.
"That is why I am so proud of USDA's work to increase exports and hopeful that Congress will act swiftly to approve these trade agreements. At the end of the day, increased exports mean more opportunities for small businesses owners and for folks who package, ship and market agricultural products. It means better incomes for our nation's farm families and more jobs across rural America.
I look forward to answering any questions you may have. Thank you."

Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation launches national family-centered campaign to curb obesity

Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation launches national family-centered campaign to curb obesity

Together Counts™ program invites American families to take pledge to work together against obesity

WASHINGTON D.C. – The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation – a 160-member organization committed to reducing obesity - especially childhood obesity – today launched a national campaign called the Together Counts™ program that encourages families to eat meals together and engage in physical activities together to help counter obesity and promote good health.

Families will be provided with tools to track their progress and compare them with the results in their communities and across America. The program will also offer rewards and incentives to provide positive reinforcement. The Together Counts website (www.togethercounts.com) will provide families with tips and advice that fuel participation, and a mobile app will give participants access to log and track their progress anywhere.

“Families that eat together and share regular physical activities are happier and healthier,” said Lisa Gable, executive director of Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (HWCF). “A family meal or a family activity is a teachable moment – an opportunity to pass on healthy habits to children. When families eat and engage in physical activity together, parents get the opportunity to teach in the most effective way possible – by example, on a regular basis.”

The Together Counts campaign is aimed at encouraging energy balance between calories consumed and calories expended – a fundamental underpinning of efforts to reduce obesity. The Together Counts program advances the goal of energy balance by drawing on the strength of families.

"Lifelong healthy eating habits begin at home," said PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra Nooyi, who chairs the HWCF. "When children see their parents eating a balanced diet and engaging with them in regular physical activity, they receive a life lesson, one that is reinforced daily within the family."

The Together Counts initiative’s focus on family shares an objective with the First Lady’s Let’s Move! Campaign, which has issued a challenge to families to be among the first to achieve a Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA) by committing to physical activity five days a week, for six weeks.
“Kids derive strength from their parents,” pointed out Ric Jurgens, Chairman and CEO of Hy-vee and HWCF Vice-Chair. “When they engage in physical activity together, or sharing meals together, kids draw the resolve and discipline they need to keep at it.”

The Together Counts campaign provides families with tools to track their progress. Through a family profile page, families will be able to log their results and gain points. They will be able to compare their results with overall results in their communities and across America, engage in positive competition and share their successes, tips, and ideas on facebook, directly from the website.

This program is one of several HWCF efforts aimed at reducing obesity by encouraging Americans to achieve energy balance.
Together Counts is on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/TogetherCounts and on Twitter at www.twitter.com/togethercounts.

The Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation brings together 160 retailers, food and beverage manufacturers, restaurants, sporting goods and insurance companies, two professional sports organizations, NGOs, trade associations, and the U.S. Army aimed at doing their part to help families reduce obesity, especially childhood obesity.
HWCF Members:
100 Black Men of America
6KidsNFit
A Chance to Heal Foundation
ActivityTree.com
Allrecipes.com
American Dietetic Association Foundation
American Wholesale Markets Association
America’s Backyard
ANNIKA Foundation
Ashley Shaffer, former Miss New Jersey
Asian Food Solutions
Association of Junior Leagues International
Baby Goes Pro
Be Active Florida
Better Bowls
Bio Vittoria Limited
BodyWorks
Brookshire Grocery Company
Bumble Bee Foods, LLC
Business Civic Leadership Center
California Fresh Fundraisers LLC
Campbell Soup Company
CATCH – Coordinated Approach to Child Health
Charles the Chef
Common Threads
ConAgra Foods
Core Wellness Life Coaching LLC
CrispTek
DailyBurn
DailyFeats
Darden Restaurants
Del Monte Foods
Discovery Education
Dish with Eileen
Doctors Direct Healthcare
Dream Dinners
Einstein Noah Restaurant Group
engageSimply
Exercise is Medicine
Exergame Fitness
eXtension
Festival Foods (Minnesota)
Fields of Dreams
FitCity, a division of Learning Well, Inc.
FoodCALC
Food City
Food Marketing Institute
George Foreman Cooking
General Mills, Inc.
GetSweaty
Girl Scouts of the USA
Global Dairy Platform
Gonzalez Northgate Market
Good Sports
Grocery Manufacturers Association
Harris Teeter, Inc.
Hartley Brand (H & H Products Co.)
Health-E-tips and JAM School Program
Healthcorps (Health + Healing Network)
Healthy Dining Finder
Healthy Kids Concepts
Healthy Lifestyle Choices
HOPSports
HOSA
Hy-Vee, Inc.
IFIC Foundation
IGA, Inc.
ILSI Research Foundation
Institute of Food Technologists
International Dairy Foods Association
iThriveForLife
Jax Markets
Kellogg Company
Kidney Wise & Wise Communities
KoreFit
Kraft Foods Inc.
Len Saunders
Mars, Incorporated
Martin’s Supermarkets
McCain Foods
McCormick & Company, Inc.
Melaina Shipwash, Miss Colorado
MEND
Milk Processor Education Program
National Association for Sport & Physical Education
National Business Group on Health (channel partner on Your Wellness Advantage portal)
National Confectioners Association
National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association
National Hypertension Association
National Wildlife Federation
Nestlé USA
NFL Play 60
‘nPLAY
Nutralife
One Economy Corporation
Our Park Place
Outdoor Foundation
PALA
Passport to Health
Paul Pierce’s The Truth on Health
PE4life
Peaceful Playgrounds
PepsiCo Foundation
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pink Lady America LLC
Playworld Systems
Price Chopper
Prince William Trails and Streams Coalition
Prodigy Diabetes Care, LLC
Produce for Better Health Foundation
PureCircle Limited
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy
Ralston Foods/Post Foods, LLC (RalcorpHoldings, Inc.)
Redner’s Markets, Inc.
Road Runners Club of America
Sara Lee Corporation
Schnuck Markets, Inc.
Shannon Miller Lifestyle: Health & Fitness for Women
Shop Rite of Hunterdon Co., Inc.
Skogen’s Festival Foods
Snack Foods Association
SPARK
SparkPeople.com
Sports Authority
Sweat Equity Network
Tate & Lyle
The Balancing Act
The Coca-Cola Company
The Hershey Company
The J.M. Smucker Company
The Kitchen Cabinet
THE MMethod
The National Activity Plan
The National Recreation and Park Association
The National Theatre for Children
The NoOodle Company
The OASIS Institute
The OrganWise Guys Incorporated
The PGA of America (The Professional Golfers’ Association of America)
Tommy the Tomato
TOPS Club, Inc.
TriWest Healthcare Alliance
Unilever
United for DC
United Supermarkets, Ltd.
United Way Worldwide
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency
U.S. Army
U.S. Chamber of Commerce
U.S. Professional Tennis Association
USA Rugby
Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth
Virgin Health Miles
Vive en Forma
Wakefern Food Corporation
W. K. Kellogg Foundation
WalkStyles, Inc.
Weight Management 2010
Women Impacting Public Policy
Women’s Sports Foundation
YMCA of Greater Richmond
YoMagination
Youth Movement

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, FEMA Administrator Fugate Statement on Opening of Morganza Spillway

Agriculture Secretary Vilsack, FEMA Administrator Fugate Statement on Opening of Morganza Spillway


WASHINGTON, May 14, 2011 - United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate today issued the following joint statement on the opening of the Morganza Spillway in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana:

"Our hearts go out to all of those affected by the flooding in Louisiana's Morganza Spillway. While the Army Corps is responsible for levee maintenance and control and the decision to open the Morganza Spillway, FEMA, the USDA and the entire federal family are focused on ensuring the safety and recovery of the people and communities we serve and at the direction of President Obama, we have been working closely with the state of Louisiana for weeks to prepare for this event.

"Due to the overwhelming amount of water flowing down the Mississippi, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had to open the Morganza Spillway as part of a flood risk management plan designed to minimize damage to property, structures and to protect millions of people from historic flood levels.  Even before the decision was made to breach the levee, USDA has been working in concert to coordinate with our federal partners to evaluate how we can provide relief to farmers and others impacted by this natural disaster.  FEMA and USDA are ready to support the state so they can help begin the road to recovery as quickly as possible. USDA agencies that provide flood and disaster assistance are offering support to those in need and standing by to assist others.

"USDA wants to assure all producers who purchased crop insurance and whose crops have been damaged by the flooding, that you will be eligible for crop insurance indemnities in accordance with the provisions of your crop insurance policy.  To all of those producers who are unable to plant, but have purchased crop insurance, you will be eligible for prevented planting payments in accordance with your policy.

"In preparation for flooding, under the leadership of Secretary Napolitano, FEMA has already embedded staff, including top officials, in the state's emergency operations center to coordinate closely with our state and local partners and has pre-positioned commodities in strategic locations that can be deployed to assist Louisiana and other states quickly, if needed.

"In the past two weeks since historic floods have affected the Mississippi River Basin, USDA and FEMA have been providing updates on the situation and working closely with state and local officials to assist impacted communities and help get people back on their feet. This will continue to be a team effort. Working together, in support of our state partners, we will do everything we can to help mitigate this damage and protect the families, farmland and communities we serve."

Strain said crop insurance plans guaranteed by USDA, FEMA

Strain said crop insurance plans guaranteed by USDA, FEMA



Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner Mike Strain, D.V.M., said the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has guaranteed that Morganza Spillway farmers whose crops have been damaged by flooding caused by the Mississippi River will be eligible for crop insurance payments in accordance with their crop insurance policies.

The ruling includes farmers in the larger Atchafalaya Basin area below the spillway whose crops will also be inundated by water after the Saturday opening of the Morganza Spillway.

Farmers who are unable to plant but purchased crop insurance will also be eligible for prevented planting payments in accordance with their policies, Strain said.

Strain said USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator (FEMA) Craig Fugate issued a statement on Saturday that crop insurance provisions will be honored.

“Secretary Vilsack and Administrator Fugate  ruled that Morganza Spillway producers who purchased crop insurance and whose crops have been damaged by the flooding will be eligible for crop insurance indemnities in accordance with the provisions of their crop insurance polices,” Strain said. “We’re happy that USDA and FEMA have made a decision that is favorable for our producers.”

Strain said an estimated 15,256 acres of crops in the spillway and basin and another 2,853 in the fore bay area between the spillway gates and Mississippi River will be lost.

 “We’ve been pushing hard for this declaration,” Strain said. “We wanted to make sure our farmers got the same deal as the Missouri farmers who lost their crops when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers artificially breeched the levee to save lives.”

Strain said the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry coordinated with Governor Bobby Jindal and his staff, USDA, FEMA and the Corps of Engineers on the issue.

“I want to say thank you to Secretary Vilsack, Administrator Fugate, the Corps of Engineers and Governor Jindal for working so hard to get a positive resolution on this issue for our Louisiana producers,” Strain said.



Below is the text of the statement issued by USDA and FEMA.

AGRICULTURE SECRETARY VILSACK, FEMA ADMINISTRATOR FUGATE STATEMENT ON OPENING OF MORGANZA SPILLWAY

WASHINGTON- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Administrator Craig Fugate today issued the following joint statement on the opening of the Morganza Spillway in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana:

"Our hearts go out to all of those affected by the flooding in Louisiana's Morganza Spillway. While the Army Corps is responsible for levee maintenance and control and the decision to open the Morganza Spillway, FEMA, the USDA and the entire federal family are focused on ensuring the safety and recovery of the people and communities we serve and at the direction of President Obama, we have been working closely with the state of Louisiana for weeks to prepare for this event.

"Due to the overwhelming amount of water flowing down the Mississippi, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had to open the Morganza Spillway as part of a flood risk management plan designed to minimize damage to property, structures and to protect millions of people from historic flood levels.  Even before the decision was made to breach the levee, USDA has been working in concert to coordinate with our federal partners to evaluate how we can provide relief to farmers and others impacted by this natural disaster.  FEMA and USDA are ready to support the state so they can help begin the road to recovery as quickly as possible. USDA agencies that provide flood and disaster assistance are offering support to those in need and standing by to assist others.

"USDA wants to assure all producers who purchased crop insurance and whose crops have been damaged by the flooding, that you will be eligible for crop insurance indemnities in accordance with the provisions of your crop insurance policy.  To all of those producers who are unable to plant, but have purchased crop insurance, you will be eligible for prevented planting payments in accordance with your policy.

"In preparation for flooding, under the leadership of Secretary Napolitano, FEMA has already embedded staff, including top officials, in the state's emergency operations center to coordinate closely with our state and local partners and has pre-positioned commodities in strategic locations that can be deployed to assist Louisiana and other states quickly, if needed.

"In the past two weeks since historic floods have affected the Mississippi River Basin, USDA and FEMA have been providing updates on the situation and working closely with state and local officials to assist impacted communities and help get people back on their feet. This will continue to be a team effort. Working together, in support of our state partners, we will do everything we can to help mitigate this damage and protect the families, farmland and communities we serve."