You won’t find many dairy farmers or agribusiness people in Wisconsin complaining about free trade.
They’re hustling to sell more products - cheese, whey, crops, embryos and computer technology - overseas.
And the industry is feeling a lot better about its future after a tough, recession-plagued 2009.
Attendance at last week’s World Dairy Expo in Madison was up with a record number of exhibitors and a growing waiting list for additional vendors.
Agriculture is expected to enjoy a $30.5 billion trade surplus this year. And milk prices are finally up, thanks in part to international exports of American dairy products.
It’s a reminder that open markets are vital to Wisconsin’s economy, not just for farm products, but increasingly for niche and high-tech manufacturing.
Gov. Jim Doyle last week made his fourth trade mission to China in six years. He announced an agreement with the Chinese province of Shaaxi, home to more than 37 million people, for greater cooperation and exchange in agriculture and other industries.
Doyle also visited Harley-Davidson’s newest dealership in Shanghai. The Milwaukee motorcycle company has opened dealerships in seven Chinese cities during the last five years.
Trade protectionists frown on the cheap Chinese imports - from computers and electronic devices to plastic cups and clothing - that have challenged Wisconsin manufactures. Low-skilled jobs have been lost to open markets and automation. Yet lower prices have saved consumers here money.
Trade is a two-way street. And China has moved up to become Wisconsin’s third largest trading partner. Our state now sells more to China than any other country besides neighboring Canada and Mexico.
As China’s middle class continues to emerge, its diet will include more dairy products. And Wisconsin is positioning itself to be a key supplier there and around the globe.
“Compared to July a year ago, exports of butterfat were 1,054 percent higher, cheese 66 percent higher, dry whey 47 percent higher and nonfat dry milk/skim milk powder 9 percent higher,” Bob Cropp, a UW-Extension dairy expert, wrote in his September dairy outlook.
Whether higher prices - particularly for milk - will continue is unclear. But the mood was sunny at the World Dairy Expo this past week.
“Orders are being placed. Embryos are being purchased,” said Mark Clarke, general manager of the World Dairy Expo. “The foreign market is big. We have the technology and the genetics here that those foreign countries want.”
Wisconsin and its representatives in Washington need to keep markets open for farmers to compete and expand.
Free trade poses challenges but also tremendous opportunities.
Just ask a Wisconsin farmer.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Should free trade be supported to help Wisconsin’s farmers and economy? Send your views, 200 words or less, to wsjopine@madison.com or to Letters to the Editor, P.0.
Box 8058, Madison, WI 53708. Please include your name, address and phone number for verifications. A selection of responses, received by Wednesday, will appear in next Sunday’s newspaper and online.
