The National Association of State Departments of Agriculture recently wrapped up their winter meeting. NASDA Vice President and North Dakota Ag Commissioner Doug Goehring says they set their priorities for 2019 and several deal with trade.

He says they’re pushing for removal of the Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum. That will be critical for getting the U.S., Canada and Mexico to ratify the USMCA.

Goehring says federal legislation is also needed to address the shortage of ag labor.

Goehring says NASDA also wants the U.S. to get up to speed with technologies like gene editing so it isn’t behind other countries.