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Several ag leaders from across the U.S. were part of last week’s USDA trade mission to South Korea—including Don Lamb, Director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture (ISDA).
Lamb was among representatives from 49 U.S. companies and organizations on the trade mission to South Korea. Lamb shared with Hoosier Ag Today that he and Indiana ag businesses are developing relationships with South Korean business partners to create new opportunities to export Indiana ag products.
“When we think about the growing our exports, we think a lot about corn and soybeans here in Indiana obviously—but really beef, pork, poultry are the areas that we probably have the most opportunities to increase,” he said. “Of course, that means corn and soybeans in one way or another from feed products.”
He said it was a good experience to be on the USDA’s trade mission with representatives from other states.
“It’s really good to be part of a team and the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) team puts together a really great way for us to kind of work together where we all have an opportunity to share in that market,” he said.
South Korea relies on imported agricultural goods, especially meat and bulk commodities, to satisfy food and feed demand. It is one of the fastest-growing economies in the developed world but has relativity small amounts of arable land.
Alexis Taylor, Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs, led the South Korea trade mission and says it was one of several trade missions planned for the year.
“At USDA, we are really focused on market diversification and opening doors, helping build relationships for U.S. food and agricultural exporters and our industries and markets all over the world,” she said. “I think Korea, being our fifth largest market, is really key to that market diversification work.”
You can learn more about upcoming trade missions on the USDA website.
