Deputy Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, Alexis Taylor, returned from a trade mission to China and Hong Kong last week. The theme of the trip and the dialogue was “Women in Ag”. Ms. Taylor was accompanied by seven state department of agriculture leaders and representatives of twenty-three US agricultural organizations and businesses on the trip to two of the top seven importers of US agricultural goods. A recent USDA press release stated that US agricultural exports to China totaled $23.5 billion in 2015, making this a significant market for expanding export opportunities for U.S. food and agricultural products.
Ms. Taylor hoped not only to seek further export opportunities, but also to promote the USDA’s Women in Agriculture initiative. The USDA is committed to building opportunities for women to lead and learn from one another, according to Taylor. “This trade mission provides us an opportunity to discuss the impacts women in the United States and China are having on agriculture.” Taylor herself is representing US agriculture abroad just after US farmers and ranchers exported $139.7 billion of agricultural goods to countries around the world. For more information, please refer to the website.