Ag Groups to Launch Town Hall Series on the Future of Trade/Supply Chains

With major agricultural fairs and other events canceled across the country, major ag groups will provide a series of virtual town halls called “AgTalks.” It’s designed to provide a new forum for farmers, ag businesses, and policy leaders to discuss potential solutions to challenges on trade, supply chains, and global competitiveness. 2020 summer events will be held in Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania. A few of the groups behind the virtual events include Farmers for Free Trade, the National Milk Producers Federation, the National Corn Growers Association, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, and many others. The AgTalks series will focus on the big challenges that agriculture faces on trade, international supply chains, and staying competitive in the international marketplace. The town hall will be led by ag leaders in each of the five states. In a combined statement, the groups say, “American competitiveness in agriculture has been seriously impacted by the surge in non-U.S. trade agreements with key customers, the trade war, and the failure of supply chains strained by COVID-19. This has impacted commodity pricing, increased input costs, derailed relationships with trading partners, and impacted the broader economy.” The first two dates will focus on Iowa and Minnesota, with specific dates coming soon.