Vilsack testifies on USMCA’s dairy benefits at U.S. Senate hearing

Aug 05, 2019

By USDEC Communications

USDEC President and CEO Tom Vilsack testified before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee today. His testimony supported swift ratification of the USMCA by Congress and stressed that food and agricultural exports are critical to America’s rural economy.

Secretary Vilsack was one of six expert witnesses called before the committee to testify about the benefits of the modernized USMCA for achieving more robust and fair trade among the United States, Mexico and Canada. The Secretary reiterated specific gains in the agreement for the U. S. dairy industry, including:

A strengthened U.S. trade relationship with Mexico, the largest U.S. dairy export destination.
Important advances in removing and reforming key trade-distorting Canadian dairy pricing policies—including Classes 6 and 7—and increased dairy access to Canada, a dairy market largely excluded from the current NAFTA framework.

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Video: Validating Net Energy in Commercial Swine Systems - Gustavo Lima

In this episode of The Swine Nutrition Blackbelt Podcast, Gustavo Lima, PhD candidate at Iowa State University, explains how soybean meal net energy is evaluated using growth assays and calorimetry. He discusses caloric efficiency, validation under commercial conditions, and differences between controlled and real-world environments. Gustavo also highlights practical implications for diet formulation and ingredient valuation. Listen now on all major platforms!

“Indirect calorimetry provides a precise estimation of ingredient energy, yet validation under production conditions remains essential for accurate application in real systems.”

Meet the guest: Gustavo Lima / gustavo-lima-a9867127 is a PhD candidate in Animal Science at Iowa State University, specializing in swine nutrition, ingredient evaluation, and energy metabolism. With over 15 years of experience across Latin America, his work focuses on soybean meal utilization, caloric efficiency, and applied research for commercial production systems.