USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) recently hosted two examiners from China who were on hand to learn the U.S. system for examining new plant variety applications.

AMS’s Plant Variety Protection Office and the American Seed Trade Association invited Yang Yang and Lingo Gao from China’s Ministry of Agriculture to work to improve global intellectual property protection. The two countries are working toward harmonizing their respective plant variety protection systems. Read more »

(From left to right) Daisy Hong of Ocean Spray, Chef C.K. Chen of Taipei’s Sherwood Hotel, Valerie Brown of USDA’s Agricultural Trade Office in Taipei, and Joyce Hong, who hosts the China TV program “King of the Happy Life,” showcase American Thanksgiving favorites on an episode of the popular TV show, which airs in Taiwan this week. Photo by A. Jay, Chun-Li Integrated Marketing and Communications Co., Ltd

Thanks to Foreign Agricultural Service employees serving at USDA’s 98 international posts, American Thanksgiving traditions – and food – are being enjoyed around the world this November. Read more »

Last Thursday, I had the pleasure of traveling to Kansas City to address our nation’s farm broadcasters at the 68^th Annual National Association of Farm Broadcasters (NAFB) meeting to answer questions about key issues affecting our agricultural community.  Since I usually only talk to the broadcasters over the phone, I enjoy coming to NAFB each year to meet with them face-to-face.  This year was particularly special because I was able to share good news regarding the state of our agricultural economy, farm exports as well as information about recent USDA streamlining initiatives that will allow us better assist our nation’s producers.

I was proud to announce that we set a record of $137.4 billion in agricultural exports this past fiscal year—exceeding past highs by over $22.5 billion—to support more than 115 million American jobs.  We were able to set a trade surplus record of $42 billion, which is a testimony to the hard work of our nation’s producers as the backbone of the American economy. Read more »

Next week I will travel to Vietnam and China on behalf of USDA and our nation’s farmers, ranchers and agricultural businesses.  I want to strengthen trade relationships we have with both nations, support the American brand, and create more opportunities for American producers to sell their goods throughout the Asia Pacific region.

This year, China moved ahead of Mexico and Canada to become our number one export market for U.S. agricultural goods.  In the past decade, the Vietnamese market has also become increasingly important for our farmers, ranchers and growers – jumping from the 50th to 15th position as a market for U.S. farm exports. Read more »

In August, 1,900 boxes of U.S. cherries from Northwest Cherries were sold in less than 30 minutes after they were featured on the popular Chinese television shopping channel OCJ. This impressive sales feat was made possible because of a partnership between USDA’s Agricultural Trade Office in Shanghai, China and Chinese produce retailer FruitDay.com, which has had enormous success selling U.S. fruit on television and online. (Photos courtesy of the Agricultural Trade Office Shanghai Staff)

For the past two years, our Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Shanghai, China has built a partnership with FruitDay.com, an online produce company that has thrived by harnessing the impressive power of internet and TV retailing to reach Chinese consumers. Read more »

Foreign Agricultural Service Acting Administrator Suzanne Heinen discusses U.S. products with Ralph Bean, director of the Agricultural Trade Office in Beijing, during a BHG promotional event.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Agricultural Trade Office (ATO) in Beijing has been working closely with Chinese retailer Beijing Hualian Group High End Markets (BHG) for several years, building a strong partnership. The Beijing ATO is staffed by Foreign Service Officers from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), who work in more than 100 offices around the world to establish solid export relationships for U.S. agriculture. In five short years, BHG has become one of the premier retailers of high-end imported foods to domestic Chinese consumers. In addition, BHG’s purchases of U.S. high-value food products jumped from $3 million in the first quarter of 2011 to $7 million in the second quarter. Read more »