Time was, governments across the globe would purchase wheat for their countries’ millers who would take what they could get, regardless of type or quality. Today, Japanese noodle makers can specify exactly what kind of wheat they want and flat bread bakers in Yemen can also pick and choose their products. According to experts on Idaho’s export potential, this desire for diversity, along with a search for high quality products, and lowering trade barriers, all bode well for the state’s future in the global marketplace.

Above: Dancers welcome an Idaho trade delegation to the Governor’s Palace in Mexico.

“Growers must target specific end-user needs. To ensure demand, growers need to provide a desired ingredient and be able to provide it at a price high enough to cover costs,” notes Patricia Dailey, acting executive director of the Idaho Wheat Commission. “Idaho can provide a consistently good supply overall and meet specific end-use markets. UI agricultural economist Stephen Devadoss concurs that the future is bright for Idaho’s international trade activities. “In general terms there is a good potential for exporting potatoes, wheat, and meat products, like cheese.”

Below right: UI’s Bob Haggerty (left) and Boise State University’s John Gardner (right) join Governor Kempthorne on a 2001 trade mission to Mexico.

To harness the state’s trading potential, trade missions are being organized, like the Asian one scheduled for this June through the governor’s office and an earlier trip to Mexico. The intent of these missions is as much to discuss potential trade agreements as it is an opportunity for Idahoans to better understand the cultural characteristics of these new markets. “Understanding a culture comes by traveling to those countries,” Devadoss suggested. “The world is getting so small, traveling to other countries is becoming more and more common.” The College of Agricultural and Life Sciences sends its Director of International Programs Bob Haggerty on these and similar missions. For his part, Devadoss is immersed in understanding and conveying to Idaho stakeholders the intricacies of negotiations among the 144 member nations of the World Trade Organization (WTO). WTO agreements impact 97 percent of the world’s trading activity on products from electronic equipment, to services, to lentils. A round of talks on agriculture and services started in 2000 and is expected to have a significant impact on what comes in and out of Idaho and other states.

“The most exciting thing right now are the developments in WTO agreements being negotiated for reductions in trade barriers. That’s going to open up more trade for Idaho commodities,” Devadoss said. “Currently the economic conditions globally are not very good, but once we get over this recession, there’s good potential.”

Right: Governor Kempthorne tours a wholesale produce market with representatives of Grupo Gama, a Mexican growers and shippers cooperative.

Other faculty members across the state are involved in building awareness of current trends in trade and of the impact on Idaho producers of significant legislation such as the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 signed by President Bush in May. The provisions of this act, commonly referred to as the Farm Bill, address international trade obligations and provide for additional investments to open new international markets for American products. College of Agricultural and Life Sciences faculty are also working with state government agencies as they build relationships with international business leaders, assist at trade shows, and provide first-hand market information to buyers. Idaho now has a regular commerce presence in South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Mexico, and, Devadoss notes, other countries are opening their doors to Idaho products, including China, Malaysia, and new areas in South and Central America. The result: Total trade in and out of Idaho has increased by almost 25 times since 1950.

The Gem State’s niche on the world trade stage is quality and productivity, the agricultural economist notes. The Idaho Potato Commission touts the state’s nearly perfect growing conditions for that crop, while the Idaho Wheat Commission is proud to report that Idaho is one of the few areas in the world where five of the six classes of wheat can be grown. “With this diversity, buyers can order grocery store shiploads where one hold can be filled with soft white wheat for cookies, another hold can be filled with red spring for bread, and a third hold can contain something else,” said Dailey. Idaho is famous as the most productive potato state and ranks in the top 10 in several other commodities, including wheat, barley, onions, cheese, and milk.

Above: a farm worker uses machinery built by Spudnik of Blackfoot.

Just as Idaho goes to the world to market its products, commodity groups and government officials are increasingly inviting the world to come to the state. During in-person tours, potential importers are witnessing production practices that result in the state’s quality products, the UI agricultural economist noted. The “two-way street” of international trade means, however, that, as trade barriers are lowered, competition for buyers increases. For a small state like Idaho, without the economies of scale enjoyed by other, larger states, the emphasis is on customer relationship building, marketing the quality of the products, and, the banding together of commodity groups and other trade players.

“It’s a long-term process, we won’t see a big jump, but over a 10- year period, we’ll see a positive trend,” Devadoss noted. “Idaho is very productive in commodities and if we are very productive we will do well in a free trade environment.”

© 2002 University of Idaho, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.