U.S.-EU Trade Talks Shafted Amid Government Shutdown

Oct 07, 2013

By Amanda Brodhagen, Farms.com

The partial U.S. government shutdown is heading into week two, with no end in sight. The shutdown has led to the cancelation of the second round of U.S.-EU trade talks. United States trade representatives were to arrive in Brussels Monday, with talks scheduled to last a week.

Partial shutdown was prompted last week after Congress failed to reach a deal on the budget. It is an ongoing battle between Democrats and Republicans. Time is ticking as an agreement needs to be reached by Oct. 17, the date when the U.S. is due to default on its debt repayments.

While the trade talks are wide-ranging, the cancelation is especially a big blow for the U.S. agriculture sector, which is faced with prolonged market access to the EU and burdened with no sign of a renewed Farm Bill.

EU’s commission trade chair Karel de Gucht released a statement calling the situation “unfortunate,” but said the cancellation will not distract from the aim of reaching a deal between the EU and the U.S. There are no signs of when the trade talks will be rescheduled.

Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.