US feed industry enthusiastic about long vacant ag trade role nominee

17-May-2022 - Last updated on 17-May-2022 at 14:16 GMT

Related tags Afia Trade

The American Feed Industry Association (AFIA) has endorsed the nomination of Alexis Taylor as the US Department of Agriculture’s undersecretary of trade and foreign agricultural affairs.

US President, Joe Biden, made the announcement last week.

Many other leading ag groups in the US also applauded Taylor’s nomination, including the US Dairy Export Council, the National Corn Growers, National Association of Wheat Growers and the American Soybean Association. The role has been vacant since President Biden took office.

AFIA President and CEO Constance Cullman, regarding the nomination, said:

“Alexis Taylor‘s extensive experience working on behalf of US agricultural trade interests as deputy undersecretary for the Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service during the Obama administration, while leading the Oregon Department of Agriculture, and in Congress is welcome in this challenging environment. This experience makes her an ideal candidate for representing and advocating on behalf of US agricultural interests to expand export opportunities and maintain US competitiveness in the global marketplace."

US feed exports

The US feed manufacturing industry relies heavily on trade, said the AFIA.

In 2021, US animal feed and pet food manufacturers exported over US$7.5bn in products, including US$5.5bn in feed and feed ingredients and US$2bn in pet food products, a 22% increase in value over 2020.

To date, the largest trading partners for the US feed sector would be Canada, Mexico, and Japan. “In terms of the top three markets, those have been pretty consistent for the past few years,” the organization told this publication last year.

AFIA, on behalf of its membership, is focusing on China and Vietnam as opportune markets, where the livestock, poultry, and aquaculture sectors are seeing investment and are rapidly undergoing modernization, reported Gina Tumbarello, AFIA’s director of international policy and trade, last April. “Those countries want to produce more of those animal protein products domestically and reduce their reliance on imports. With that focus comes a need for feed additives that bring added value to the rations and the final animal protein product being developed.”