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Minnesota Wheat director points to trade as top priority

The new director of Minnesota Wheat says trade is the most prominent issue for growers.

Charlie Vogel, who spent time as an ag teacher and FFA advisor in Colorado before entering the ag manufacturing sector, tells Brownfield access to markets is critical.

“No one grows a better product or more efficiently than the U.S. and Minnesota farmer, we have an excellent wheat crop. And then (the key is) getting that to market at a profitable price.”

Vogel suggests trade disruptions stirred by the Trump Administration are all intertwined, but says the renegotiation of NAFTA has impacted U.S. wheat the most.

“Canada and Mexico are two of our biggest partners. Corn and soybeans are huge, but also getting access to China. But I’d say the most critical one for wheat right now is getting NAFTA redone.”

Vogel hopes Congress ratifies USMCA soon because he says with the 2020 election looming, if it doesn’t get done now it might not get done at all.

Vogel was the sales and marketing manager at Legacy Cooperative in Bisbee, North Dakota when hired by the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers.