Thread: 2008 World Ag Expo; Tulare, CA Feb. 12-14

Since the ag industry is a big supporter of illegal immigration I thought it would be appropriate to post on the forum. There are some interesting events scheduled:
http://www.worldagexpo.com/index.html

Tuesday, Feb 12:

International Trade Seminars
Expo Seminar Center
11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – U.S. Free Trade Agreements: Does Free Trade Equate to Fair Trade?
The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS) are designed to remove trade barriers between the United States and these other countries. Is the elimination of past barriers really improving the U.S. competitiveness and establishing a fair playing field for all countries involved? Learn what today’s Free Trade Agreements really mean and how you can save time and money. Andrew Stephens, Director for Bilateral Agricultural Affairs, Office of the United States Trade Representative; Eduardo Torres, Director, U.S. Department of Commerce, Fresno Export Assistance Center

International Trade Seminars
Expo Seminar Center
1 p.m. – 1:50 p.m. – China’s Food Quality: Vote of No Confidence or Safety on the Horizon?
China’s agricultural exports to the United States surged to $2.26 billion last year, but major countries continue to ban whole categories of products due to consumer safety issues. As the People’s Republic of China fights to get a handle on quality control, can the U.S. consumer afford to continue doing “business as usualâ€

I have been posting some links to the World Ag Expo over the last few months but I see you are coming at it from a somewhat differnt angle--i.e. exposing political and trade issues.

I would hope that farmers concerned with labor shortages could learn ways to substitute technology for human labor. This, apparently, was a preferred course in the US up until the late 1970's when political and farmworker union pressure halted a lot of research programs. For example, the harvesting of canning tomatoes became a lot more efficient prior to that point. Afterwards, innovative programs were left more to state universities and to overseas firms. Sorry, I don't know a detailed history on how it came undone.

Now, with concerns for a reduced immigrant labor force, farmers are starting to calculate that they may need to make some investments in automated equipment. To my knowledge, US farmers are losing out to : 1. Mechanized concerns in Europe and Oceania . To ultra cheap labor in developing countries. We should seek to limit their need for human--particularly illegal--labor and steer them towards efficient equipment.

I went to the Ag Fair a couple of years ago. I couldn't believe the number of foreigners that attended. A lot of Chinese, Korean, Australian etc.