Visit from EU official opens ag trade dialogue

Earlier this month, I had the opportunity to host an agriculture leader from the European Union during an educational visit to our state.

Nebraska Agriculture Director Greg Ibach and I visited with Commissioner Neil Parish of England. As chairman of the EU Parliament’s Agriculture and Rural Development Committee, he plays an important role in developing EU policy on a wide range of agriculture and economic issues.

His visit to the U.S. was an opportunity to learn more about advances in biotechnology, beef and biofuels production. For us, the visit provided a chance to highlight production practices in use on Nebraska farms and agricultural research being conducted in our state by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Like all industries, agriculture continues to evolve thanks to technological advances and new research. One of the reasons for his visit was to see firsthand how new innovations are transitioned from the lab to the field. For years, EU leaders have tried to find a consensus on policies relating to the use of genetically modified crops and the question of whether to import beef produced from cattle treated with growth hormones.

Educators and researchers at the UNL Agricultural Research and Development Center near Mead provided a tour focusing on no-till agriculture, carbon sequestration and the benefits associated with genetically modified crop production.

Mr. Parish was particularly interested in research into new biotech crop varieties that hold special traits benefiting consumers, as well as farmers. A producer himself, Sen. Ron Raikes participated in the tour and answered questions about beef production and the use of distillers grains as a feed source for cattle. Another meeting provided a chance for representatives of Nebraska’s beef industry to discuss opportunities to improve the flow of Nebraska beef into European markets.

Since 1985, the United States has been in discussions with the EU to end a ban on meat imports derived from cattle treated with growth hormones. The matter has been before the World Trade Organization on several occasions and is timely given the U.S. Meat Export Federation forecasts a beef deficit in the years to come. Increased beef consumption combined with declining domestic production among EU states could mean a need for at least 1.3 million metric tons of beef by 2012.

As the nation’s leading producer of red meat, Nebraska would be in a good position to help meet growing demand. Other commodities such as poultry egg products, pork and dry beans are already exported to EU countries. Mr. Parish’s visit gave us the opportunity to promote these products, along with the wide variety of other agricultural commodities grown and produced here in our state.

I want to thank everyone who took time from their busy schedules to meet and visit with Mr. Parish. The tour and discussions sparked an important dialogue between Nebraska and EU leaders that I hope will continue.

From my discussions with Mr. Parish, I believe the few days he spent in Nebraska gave him a greater appreciation for the innovations taking place in American agriculture. My hope is that the information we presented will be helpful as EU leaders consider policy changes that might allow EU countries to explore new avenues of agricultural trade in the years to come.

Dave Heineman of Fremont is governor of Nebraska. He can be reached at P.O. Box 94848, Lincoln NE 68509-4848, (402) 471-2244, fax: (402) 471-6031 or e-mail at his Web site, www.gov.state.ne.us.