Visit to the Netherlands Highlights Trade and Climate Collaboration

By Karen Ross

(Photos: Right — Secretary Ross with US Ambassador Shefali Razdan Duggal, USDA Under Secretary Alexis Taylor, and Josette Lewis of the Almond Board of California. Below — discussing sustainable pest management solutions at Koppert)

The Netherlands portion of California’s Climate Smart Ag Policy Mission began with a focus on trade collaboration and innovation. Joining with the USDA Agricultural Trade Mission to the Netherlands, we were welcomed by U.S. Ambassador Shefali Razdan Duggal and USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs Alexis Taylor, who emphasized the Netherlands as an important trading partner as well as a partner on climate and innovation.

Our visits to Royal Steensma’s Food Innovation Academy and Koppert focused on innovation, both within the food industry and in agricultural production.

Royal Steensma highlighted bakery ingredient innovations and also workforce development opportunities provided to young adults and college students to improve engagement and career development within the food system. Royal Steensma is a supplier of a wide range of bakery products that include an array of California almond ingredients.

At Koppert, we had a chance to engage on sustainability – discussing research and innovation to provide natural solutions for growers and farmers on sustainable pest management. In “Partnering with Nature,” Koppert is working to provide biological solutions to agricultural sustainability challenges and is a strong potential partner in assisting the agricultural sector on California’s Sustainable Pest Management Roadmap.

As we continue our Netherlands visit – I look forward to engaging with the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality and visiting with producers focusing on circular agriculture and ag tech partnerships.