M—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, November 15,1980
AAW presents Washington-on-tKe-line
HERSHEY American
Agri-Women looked at
foreign trade policies
Tuesday during a
Washington-on-the-lme tel
ephone linkup with
agriculture attache’s from
three foreign embassies.
Special guest “speakers”
were Eric Demg for the
embassy of the Netherlands
and Mario Balava
representing Brazil, both
linked up through their
Washington embassy of
fices, and Robert Swift,
speaking from Chicago for
the Australian government.
Washington editor of THE
PACKER, and THE
DROVERS, Larry Water
man, served as moderator.
Three convention delegates
representatives, Dons
Royal, Julie Hmter and
Audrey Sickmger, served as
panelists questioning the
attaches on a vanety of
agriculture trade concerns.
One percent of agriculture
exports from the
Netherlands comes to the
United States, mostly in
dairy and horticulture
products, including the
famous Holland floral bulbs.
In turn, the Dutch buy some
$2 million worth of American
farm products, mostly
grains, meats and soybeans.
Since land, much of it
reclaimed from the invading
sea, is an ongoing problem in
Holland, AAW represen
Larry Waterfield and AAW panelists, from left, Audrey Sickinger, Julie Hinter
and Doris Royal, quizzed a trio of foreign ag attaches via telephone linkups
during a Tuesday segment of the convention.
tatives questioned the Dutch
solutions to another
domestic farm worry, land
use. According to Demg,
their 10 million acres of
farmland come under strict
zoning laws at national,
provincial and local levels.
Dutch farmers operate
under regulations telling
them which areas can be
farmed and under some
conditions, even how the
land can be used, although
cropping choices are theirs.
“Everybody complains
about it,” commented Demg
matter-of-factly. However,
since the country is so small,
and agriculture so vital to
the Netherlands domestic
economy, the population has
had to accept such
restrictions.
Brazilian agriculture
attache Mario Belava noted
that almost half of his
country’s exports are farm
products, mostly coffee,
cocoa, sugar and soybeans,
with a large percentage sold
to the U.S
Convention delegates,
questioning future increases
of Brazilian exports of
soybeans of the U.S., were
assured that shipments of
the oil crop are not likely to
be boosted much in the next
five years. Instead, Belava
foresaw a Brazilian cropping
program shift in the future
toward more needed crops.
Part of that shift could be
ft
, ;i'
geared toward Brazil's
highly successful domestic
gram alcohol production. In
1975, the government of the
large South American
country plunged into a
program of partially
replacing gasoline m all
vehicle use. After reaching
their goal this year of 20
percent alcohol to 80 percent
gasoline in motor fuels,
plans for the next five years
are directed to total con
version to alcohol-burning
engines.
According to Australian ag
representative Robert Swift,
agriculture products ex
ported from his country are
vital to the well-being of the
rural segment’s economy
About 90 percent of
Australia’s wool production,
35 percent of beef and veal
products and 70 percent of
sugar is sold worldwide.
But Australia's largest
trade item with the Umted
States is beef, sometimes
cited by American farmers
as part of the reason for low
domestic beef grower
returns. Dairy products,
mostly in the form of cheese
and casern, are also sent to
American markets m fairly
large quantities.
Swift criticized the
counter-cyclical proposed
beef unport quotas that
would allow foreign meat
quantities to rise when
domestic production is low in
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- y> • *
#1
I g** 1
the U.S., and drop when
meat supplies were high
“That formula wrongly
assumes that other countries
will manage their meat
production accordingly,”
argued Swift “It’s a policy
that may drive our
producers out of business
waiting for the low cycle to
come.”
He added that since beef
imports amount to only
seven percent of total U S.,
domestic use, the quantity is
not large enough to greatly
affect American beef
producers’ prices. However,
the three and one-half
percent of beef consumption
Med by Australian imports
represents a full fourth of
total production from that
company, making it a much
needed market to Aussie
cattlemen.
In response to an Agri-
Women question on the value
and possibility of forming a
world gram cartel, Swift
replied that he would not be
m favor of an OPEC-like
pricing agreement on gram
sales, but would, like to see
some cooperative method of
leveling pendulum price
swings. Instead, Swift
proposed more international
understanding and
agreements on gram sales,
with consuming countries as
well as producer interests
represented in gram
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Mo'derator Larry
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phone linkage segment,
noted that specialty crops
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United States exporting
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countries like Japan, Saudi
Arabia and Taiwan. (
While American fruit
growers are eager to sell
larger shipments to
Japanese consumers, who
pay as much as a dollar for a
grapefruit, the island’s
country’s farmers have a
strong lobby to keep tariffs
high on incoming farm
goods.
.-'1