Agriculture is a hidden policy driver of foreign trade deals

John F. Kennedy quipped to Harvard professor John Kenneth Galbraith, who had started his career as an agricultural economist, that he only wanted to hear about farming him, and he didn't want to hear much from him, either.

Clayton Yeutter, one of America's most influential agricultural experts, just completed several days at Carthage College. He met with students studying rhetoric/public speaking, business, economics, entrepreneurial studies, political economy/political science and other fields, and noted JFK along with Ronald Reagan as particularly talented political communicators.

His remarks underscored the enormous importance and also complexity of agriculture. Since World War II Americans have become generally removed from farm life. Farms contained half the American population at the turn of the last century, and are down to about one percent today.

Yet the U.S. is the largest agricultural exporter as well as importer in the world. This means that farm concerns bear very directly on world trade policy as well as domestic politics. Trade related to food and associated products underwrites much of our current prosperity.

During the Reagan Administration, Yeutter spearheaded the Uruguay Round, an enormously important trade negotiation that resulted in the creation of the World Trade Organization. This success led naturally to his appointment as Secretary of Agriculture during the George H.W. Bush Administration. Earlier, he led the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to global leadership in innovative agricultural, financial and other trading.