Colorado Farm Bureau to Sen. Committee: Seek trade opportunities

The vice president of the Colorado Farm Bureau, told the Senate Subcommittee on East Asia, The Pacific and International cybersecurity policy to seek more ag exports opportunities.

Carlyle Currier said farmers support the Asia Reassurance Initiative Act or ARIA which funds strategies to increase U.S. security and economic interests in the Indo-Pacific region.

"In Colorado as in other states, we rely on trade each day to market the products we work so hard to grow. In fact about 35-percent of US farm income is derived from selling agricultural products overseas. Legislation like ARIA is important to building long lasting relationships with our trading partners and helps avoid trade disruptions and disputes. We are concerned with the blow back with the administration's decision to place tariffs on our trading partners. While some of these barriers have fallen in the past few days, agriculture is still bearing the brunt of retaliation at a time when farmers are already facing low commodity prices , high input costs and unpredictable weather."

The Colorado Farm Bureau added in a news release, "Recent trade disputes have added to farmers and ranchers who are already burdened with low commodity prices and devastation from severe weather like floods and fires, so farmers and ranchers around the country are looking to expand market opportunities across the globe."

Colorado Senator Cory Gardner chairs the committee and noted that trade between the US and Asian nations is vitally important to the US economy. He added that by 2030 66-percent of the of global middle class population will be living in East Asian nations and 59-percent of middle class consumption will take place in Asia.