Time again for our Website of the Week, when we showcase interesting and innovative online destinations. Our web guide is VOA's Art Chimes.
The United States grows and exports vast amounts of wheat, soybeans, corn and other agricultural products each year. We also import a staggering array of food products from virtually every country on earth.
For a wide range of information about American agricultural imports and exports, head on over to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service.
Spokesman Harold Kanarek says the website's information is collected from throughout the United States and directly from agents around the world, in what they call attaché reports.
"We have 102 offices around the world in 82 countries, so we have market information about markets in India, China, Japan - every country you can think of," he says. "This is an incredibly valuable resource. It's one of our most popular accessed pages."
The main job of the Foreign Agricultural Service is to promote U.S. exports, but in the process they collect tons of data that will be of interest to farmers, processors, economists, students and anyone interested in food.
"We have a lot searchable databases that give statistics about agricultural trade and production. Not only U.S. statistics, but also we have a production supply and distribution database, which gives estimates about agricultural production in countries all around the world," Kanarek explained.
As we gear up for a change in presidential administration here in Washington, policy change is in the air, and the Foreign Agricultural Service website keeps track of U.S. trade policy for you.
"So this is where somebody would go to find out information about what our trading policy is, what our free trade status is with a particular country, and also find out the status of world trade negotiations and trade liberalization efforts."
The U.S. Foreign Agricultural Service is online at fas.usda.gov, or get the link to this and more than 200 other Websites of the Week from our site, voanews.com.
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