03/21/06  New FAS Adminstrator

03/21/06 New FAS Adminstrator

Farm and Ranch March 21, 2006 The Foreign Agricultural Service is the USDA agency that among other things, administers export financing and market development programs, carries out food aid and market related technical assistance. That makes it important to northwest wheat and grain producers, whose national organizations like U.S. Wheat Associates and the U.S. Grains Council are cooperators in foreign market development programs. FAS has a new administrator, Mike Yost, who previously served as associate administrator for the Farm Service Agency. Yost: "Secretary Johanns and Undersecretary Penn are the lead people in the department for trade policy. This agency plays a supporting role. We work on the issues. We gather the facts. We do issue papers. I see us as continuing in that role." Yost says among the areas he plans to focus his attention is the reorganization of the Foreign Agricultural Service. Yost: "This process was in place before I got here and I am just in the process of learning where they are at and where we need to go. We are still going to service all our partners, service all our customers. We have to readjust, reorganize because the issues we are facing are much different than they were in the past." Yost is a fourth generation farmer from Minnesota who before he went to USDA held such positions as the chairman of the American Soybean Association. I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.
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