Avis replaces Joshua Merchant, who resigned earlier this year to become assistant director of development for the Michigan State University College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

The Michigan FFA Foundation is the fund-raising arm of the Michigan FFA Association, an organization focused on youth programs in the areas of agriculture and natural resources education and leadership. The Foundation supports annual FFA programs, such as scholarships and public speaking contests, through contributions from individual and corporate donors who, last year alone, donated $250,000.

Working closely with the FFA Foundation Board of Directors and the state FFA Association, Avis will manage proposals for project funding; conduct donor campaigns; plan, coordinate, promote and implement special fund-raising events and programs; and monitor donations and planned marketing.

"Josh laid great groundwork for the Foundation," said Avis, who hails from a Vicksburg cash crop farm and graduated from Michigan State University in 1997 with a bachelor's degree in agriculture and natural resources communication. "I'm excited to follow in his footsteps and continue to build the Glassbrook FFA Endowment so we can fund even more programs beyond the K-12 programs we currently support.

"With agriculture ranked as Michigan's second leading industry, I'm really excited to help develop Michigan's future and give youth the skills they need to enter Michigan agribusiness as ready-made leaders."

Since November 1999, Avis has worked as a Farm Bureau regional representative, administering Farm Bureau programs in a six-county region of southeast Michigan. Before joining Michigan Farm Bureau, she worked for the National FFA Organization as a communications specialist, assisting in the development and implementation of strategic communication and marketing plans for the national youth organization.

Her prior work experience also includes a job as sales representative for the Equine Times, where she managed and consulted 400 different accounts and worked with national advertising agencies to boost sales 75 percent in her first five months.

In her new role, Avis would like to work with individual donors more and make greater efforts to recognize their generosity. "These individuals don't necessarily give $5,000, for instance. They may give $500 or $100," she explained. "But these are the people who have really kept the FFA program afloat over the years."

As well, Avis hopes to see more agricultural entrepreneurship programs established to recognize youth who are building their own businesses and more funding of leadership development programs in inner-city schools.

She also plans to help make youth aware of expanding agricultural career opportunities by reaching out to potential corporate donors in sectors beyond typical production agriculture, such as companies in food systems or biotechnology industries.

And those details are what matters most to U.S. and Michigan farmers, according to Ken Nye, Michigan Farm Bureau horticultural and forestry specialist.

"The concept of free trade is generally beneficial to agriculture," said Nye. "Removing tariffs and trade barriers, as with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), is generally good because there's more opportunities for us to sell our agricultural products in an unrestricted marketplace. So the FTAA concept is sound, and we have to recognize that we benefit the most when trade is the most open."

Nye, however, acknowledged that tearing away trade barriers across the hemisphere could hurt some U.S. commodities that now have minor forms of protection from import competition, including sugar and some horticultural and specialty crops like fruits and vegetables. That's why the FTAA nuts and bolts are vitally important, he said.

"I think we have to pay attention to how the agreement is going to address export subsidies and how it's going to prevent others from attempting to use FTAA benefits to their advantage, in other words outside countries trying to trans-ship or unduly distort or monopolize trade," Nye said. "We also must make sure that we have reciprocal trade opportunities with other countries and that we maintain our existing trade laws to protect ourselves against any unfair or illegal activities by other exporters within the free trade area."

According to American Farm Bureau Federation economic analyst John Skorburg, "NAFTA continues to be a significant market for both U.S. ag exports and imports with two-way trade approaching $28 billion in 2000."

Based on economic data from 1994 through 2000, "NAFTA has been good for all three countries," Skorburg said. But he points out that results differ by commodity and type, such as bulk, raw commodities versus consumer-oriented goods like dairy products or processed fruits and vegetables.

So as with NAFTA, Skorburg expects "there will be commodity winners and losers" under FTAA.

"The FTAA will increase U.S. exports of most bulk commodities, including wheat, corn, soybeans, cotton and rice. The agreement is likely to have major implications for U.S. imports of raw sugar and various fruits and vegetables," he said.

More specifically, Skorburg said the Americas "will compete head-on with U.S. farmers and ranchers in the consumer-oriented ag sector." For instance, the United States in 2000 imported $14.2 billion worth of consumer ag goods from the Americas - led by fresh/processed fruits and vegetables, $4.8 billion; red meats, $2.1 billion; juices, $496 million; nursery/cut flowers, $838 million; and beers and wines, $1.2 billion.

Highlights of NAFTA and U.S. agricultural trade within the Western Hemisphere are listed below.

NORTH AMERICAN FREE TRADE AGREEMENT

• U.S. ag exports to Canada and Mexico rose from $10.1 billion in 1994 to $14.2 billion in 2000, representing a gain of almost 40 percent.
• U.S. ag imports from Canada and Mexico also gained from 1994 to 2000, up 67.7 percent from $8.2 billion to $13.7 billion.
• In overall value, regardless of category, the top five U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico in 2000 (excluding snack foods) were: red meats, $1.2 billion; corn, $1.1 billion; fresh vegetables, $937 million; fresh fruit,$859 million; and soybeans, $750 million.
• U.S. trade with Canada alone grew 37.6 percent with total ag exports increasing from $5.6 billion in 1994 to $7.6 billion in 2000. Based on dollar value in 2000, the top U.S. ag exports to Canada were fresh vegetables, $869 million; fresh fruit, $639 million; snack foods, $617 million; processed fruit and vegetables, $434 million; and fresh and frozen red meats, $349 million.
• The top U.S. ag imports from Canada were red meats, $1.6 billion; live animals, $1.1 billion; snack foods, $1.1 billion; processed fruit and vegetables, $552 million; and fresh vegetables, $412 million.
• U.S. trade with Mexico alone rose about 43 percent, going from $4.6 billion in 1994 to $6.5 billion in 2000. Based on dollar value in 2000, the top U.S. ag exports to Mexico were corn, $973 million; red meats, $876 million; soybeans, $678 million; cotton $476 million; processed fruit and vegetables, $260 million; and poultry meat, $250 million.
• The top U.S. ag imports from Mexico were fresh vegetables, $1.4 billion; wine and beer, $757 million;fresh fruit, $578 million; processed fruit and vegetables, $400 million; and live animals, $407 million. Overall, U.S. imports of fresh vegetables from Mexico have increased 60 percent since 1994.

• U.S. exports of agricultural products to the Americas approached $18.5 billion in 2000 as compared to $16.6 billion in 1996, a more than 11-percent gain.
• U.S. imports of agricultural products from the Americas rose almost 17 percent, increasing from $17.8 billion in 1996 to nearly $21 billion in 2000.
• Two of the largest U.S. imports, however, were raw coffee and bananas. Since the United States does not compete fully in these commodities, the adjusted (less coffee and bananas) U.S. imports of ag products from the Americas was $18.1 billion in 2000. This adjusted figure stood at $14.9 billion in 1996.
• Based on the adjusted import figures, the United States actually ran an ag trade surplus with the Americas from 1996 to 2000. The adjusted ag trade surplus in 2000 was about $300 million, down from a peak in 1998 of $1.9 billion. A dip in cotton exports (drought induced) helped slow the total during 1999.

"It looks like sugar beets are off to a real good start," said Bob Boehm, manager of the Michigan Farm Bureau Commodity and Marketing Department. That's good news considering sugar beets traditionally are the first major crop planted, followed by corn, soybeans and dry beans.

According to crop reports filed Monday, farmers have already planted more than half of the state's sugar beet acreage. Michigan sugar beet growers expect to plant 180,000 acres, according to the Michigan Agricultural Statistics Service (MASS).

While overnight frosts could damage some sugar beets and force replanting, Boehm said growers are ahead enough that any replanting would not cause major disruptions to planting schedules.

For instance, at this time last year, only 48 percent of the sugar beet crop was in the ground. And on average, only 10 percent of the crop is normally planted by now.

Michigan's timely start sharply contrasts the sugar beet industries in Minnesota and North Dakota, where sugar beet planting is stalled due to cool, wet weather and localized flooding.

Boehm said Michigan farmers likely will have a significant portion of the corn crop planted by May 15 - the optimal timeframe - so long as forecasts for dry and warmer weather hold true for the next few weeks.

MASS estimates the state's corn growers will plant 2.15 million acres this year. Meanwhile, soybean producers are expected to plant 2.15 million acres - a record high, and dry bean producers are expected to plant 200,000 acres - a record low.

Mother Nature, however, isn't the only hurdle agricultural producers face. Farmers have known for months that natural gas supply crunches would likely impact markets for nitrogen fertilizer, a critical nutrient for corn and wheat.

Nitrogen fertilizer is now selling for $100 to $150 more per ton, increasing from $300 to $350 a ton last year to $400 to $450 a ton this year.

"Certainly nitrogen costs and availability have been a concern, but a lot of farmers had that budgeted and lined up their supplies last fall," Boehm said, adding, "At this point, we're still confident we're going to have sufficient fertilizer supplies to meet demand."

One "bright spot" for farmers' pocketbooks could be a price increase for winter wheat scheduled for harvest in July or August, said Boehm, who could not estimate just how big an increase might be. This week, Michigan wheat was selling for about $2.30 a bushel, with prices varying depending upon location in the state.

Boehm said crop reports filed Monday indicate Michigan winter wheat planted last fall is rated in good to excellent condition. That compares to national rankings that show only 42 percent of the wheat crop in good to excellent condition during the same period. A year ago, 61 percent of U.S. winter wheat was rated good to excellent.

"We've had back-to-back record wheat yields in Michigan, but when you look around the country, there's a lot of concern about abandonment of acreage in Kansas and parts of Oklahoma due to a late crop last fall, dry planting conditions, winter kill and so forth," he said. "So from a fundamental perspective, wheat has some upside potential of the three major crops - corn, soybeans and wheat - to have a price increase as we move toward harvest time."

Overall, Boehm said Michigan is "off to a good start and planting date is an early indicator of yield potential."

"Obviously we're a long way to harvest," he said. "But it's important to have adequate moisture and a decent planting window. And right now we're still in the early part of that planting window and there seems to be adequate soil moisture for seed germination.

"So if weather over the next couple weeks cooperates as forecasted, I think we'll get a lot of crop in the ground, and that kind of timing is always a critical component of overall yield potential."

Stallman said granting the president trade promotion authority (fast track negotiating authority) is significant "in order to improve our access to world markets and correct the trade inequities now facing our sector." But he warned that such authority "should not include labor and environment provisions that use trade as a weapon."

The rice and cattle producer said it is important that growers have the same access to foreign markets that international competitors have to the U.S. market. He urged the development of a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which would "create an open market of 34 countries."

"Producers from these countries already enjoy significant access to our market and also compete with us in the international marketplace," Stallman told the committee. "It is imperative that U.S. producers begin to enjoy access to the FTAA markets on equal terms."

Contact: Ken Nye, (800) 292-2680, ext. 2020

During that same time, the overall number of farms declined about 5 percent. Women own about 9 percent of U.S. farms and 5 percent of U.S. farmland.

The USDA numbers don't take into account the number of farms that are jointly owned by men and women, and don't quantify the contributions to the agricultural economy made by either men or women who don't own farms.

Contact: Jill Haake, (800) 292-2680, 6585

"We have no plans to relook at the diesel rule," Whitman said. "I have no intention of rethinking that." Farm Bureau has sought a revised standard.

Under the rule approved in the last days of the Clinton term, sulfur in diesel fuel must be cut to 15 parts-per-million by 2006. Diesel refiners filed a lawsuit to block the rule and force changes, saying refiners need until 2008 to 2010 to make costly changes to their refining systems. EPA will give smaller refiners more time to upgrade their facilities to produce the cleaner fuel.

Contact: Al Almy, (800) 292-2680, ext. 2040

The U.S. government levied anti-dumping duties of up to 52 percent on Chinese concentrate imports in May 2000, following the Commerce Department and U.S. International Trade Commission's rulings that Chinese concentrate was sold in the U.S. market at prices below production costs causing economic harm to U.S. concentrate producers - a practice called dumping.

The U.S. apple industry has been devastated in recent years by a flood of unfairly priced concentrate imports from China, which displaced sales of U.S.-produced concentrate and U.S.-grown juice apples.

"U.S. apple growers and concentrate producers are still being held hostage, first by Chinese dumping and now by the Chinese skirting U.S. trade laws," said U.S. Apple Association (USApple) President and CEO Kraig R. Naasz. "We want the U.S. government to enforce our nation's trade laws, and to require that China respect and adhere to those laws."

The U.S. government's ruling and subsequent levying of anti-dumping duties on Chinese imports have helped offset Chinese dumping. However, some Chinese suppliers are avoiding the tariff by shipping chilled concentrate to the United states duty-free, or by chilling Chinese concentrate shipped to Canada and re-exporting it duty-free to the United States.

In 2000, for instance, the volume of imported Chinese concentrate increased 35 percent compared to 1999.

In a related development, the U.S. apple industry filed a rebuttal brief with the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York City on April 6, joining the U.S. Department of Justice in defending the U.S. government's anti-dumping ruling against appeal. Chinese concentrate suppliers appealed the anti-dumping ruling in July 2000.

The court's final decision is likely to be announced this fall. In the meantime, the Commerce Department's decision remains in effect and the U.S. Customs Service will continue to collect anti-dumping duties on imported Chinese concentrate.

Contact: Tom Butler, (800) 292-2680, ext. 2309

It is estimated that a single toad may catch and eat as many as 10,000 insects in the course of a summer.

Cheddar, often sold as "American" or store cheese, constitutes about two-thirds of the cheese sold in the United States.

Chewing gum reached the United States in the late 1800s when Santa Ana was exiled to New York after the Mexican revolution, bringing chicle (gum) with him. Chicle is a gum taken from the sapodilla tree, which grows in the Yucatan desert of Mexico.

Pasta is one of America's favorite foods. Last year, 1.3 million pounds of pasta were sold in American grocery stores. If you lined up 1.3 million pounds of 16-ounce spaghetti packages, they could circle the Earth's equator almost nine times.

The United States provides about 25 percent of the world's total supply of fresh peaches. However, most peaches that are imported to the United States during winter months come from Chile. The peach is a member of the rose family and has a sweet fragrance when ripe. The third most popular fruit grown in America, the peach also is an excellent source of Vitamin C.