Montana Agriculture: Global Trade to Local Foods

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BOZEMAN – Montana State University’s Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics and MSU Extension will host the 9th annual Agricultural Economics Outlook Conference on Friday, Nov. 6.

This year’s conference, “Montana Agriculture: Global Trade to Local Foods,” will run from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Procrastinator Theater in MSU’s Strand Union Building.

The conference’s keynote speaker is Colin Carter, professor of agricultural and resource economics at the University of California Davis and director of the Giannini Foundation of Agricultural Economics. Carter’s research is focused on international trade, futures and commodity markets, and he has published more than 130 research papers and authored more than 15 books.

“Dr. Colin Carter is one of the world’s leading experts on international agricultural trade and trade policy issues,” said Vincent Smith, professor of economics in the MSU Department of Agricultural Economics and Economics. “He works extensively with both U.S. and international government and non-governmental agencies and interest groups on trade related disputes, and his academic research has been widely recognized for its insights and importance.”

Carter will address agricultural trade and the Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP), a proposed regional free trade agreement currently being negotiated among the United States, Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore and Vietnam. TPP is a trade policy of President Obama meant to expand American goods and services exports to new markets while setting high standards of global trade, according to the Office of the United States Trade Representative. The TPP has important implications for Montana’s agricultural exports, according to Smith.

The conference, which is part of MSU’s Celebrate Agriculture weekend, is also designed to provide Montana agricultural, business leaders, agricultural bankers, producers and others in agriculture with quality, unbiased information about issues facing Montana agriculture.

“The outlook conference is an outstanding example of MSU’s commitment to the land-grant mission of bringing high-quality, relevant research findings to the citizens of Montana,” said Jeff Bader, director of MSU Extension. “The event brings important insights about the current standing and future of agriculture from a research perspective, which is always appreciated by our stakeholders.”

During the morning session of the conference, MSU agricultural economics professors will share their expertise on aspects of Montana’s agricultural industry. Speakers include Kate Fuller, who will discuss the status of Montana agriculture; Joe Janzen, who will discuss marketing Montana pulse crops; and Eric Belasco, who will discuss cattle market fundamentals and prices. Registration is $25 for the morning session and lunch. Those who register by Wednesday, Oct. 28, will receive a free parking pass. To register, please visit www.ampc.montana.edu/fallconference/index.html.

Following lunch at 1:45 p.m., two in-depth breakout sessions will be offered. The first session will focus on innovations in price risk management from MSU economics professors Gary Brester, Janzen, Joe Atwood and Belasco. The second session will focus on producer and consumer relationships in local food markets and will feature Dawn Thilmany McFadden, professor of agribusiness at Colorado State University, and MSU Agricultural Economics Professor George Haynes. Several local food businesses will also share their perspective with attendees. Registration is not required for the breakout sessions.

 

For a full schedule of events and speakers at the conference, please visit http://www.ampc.montana.edu/fallconference/index.html.

 

A full schedule of events for the Celebrate Agriculture weekend event is available at: http://ag.montana.edu/excellence/agappreciation.htm.

 

 

Source: MSU News

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