USDA head: US farmers to help if Ukraine exports threatened

By ISABEL DEBRE
Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. secretary of agriculture says that a Russian invasion of Ukraine offers American farmers a chance to boost production and prevent supply chain problems. During a trade mission to the United Arab Emirates on Saturday, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack told The Associated Press that American producers would step in to help if a conflict cut off agricultural exports from the global grains powerhouse. The mounting tensions and militarization along the Russia-Ukraine border has helped push wheat prices to their highest level in nearly a decade. Vilsack was in Dubai to advance an agriculture sustainability initiative and promote American agricultural exports.