Crookston’s own Tim Dufault will be representing the Minnesota Wheat Council on the Governor’s Trade mission to the U.K. and Finland next week. Dufault will fly out of Minnesota tomorrow afternoon, November 13, and arrive in London sometime Sunday, November 14. The Trade Mission will last all week and Dufault will return on Friday, November 19.
This will be the first time Dufault has gone on such a trip, and he explained more of the details and the purpose for the Minnesota Wheat Council. “The Minnesota Wheat Council Offices are in Red Lake Falls, Minnesota, and we administer the two cents per bushel check off and then use that money for research purposes,” said Dufault. “So, this trip that came along fit right in with our mission of promotion, and the hope is that I can go over there and farther the exports of Minnesota wheat.”
Dufault said a variety of people and all commodity groups were invited to attend the trip. “All the commodity groups in Minnesota were invited to attend,” said Dufault. “Some research people and others were also invited to attend, but out of the people in the Wheat Council, I was the one that had time to make the trip work, which is why I’m going.”
There will be 67 total people attending the trip from Minnesota and 19 from the agriculture group. Four separate groups will be on the trip representing Agriculture, Education, Medical Technology, and Environmental Sciences. The itinerary for the week is already laid out, and the different groups will have meetings throughout the week. There will also be a variety of receptions and meet and greets with EPA group members.
Another Crookston native Eric Samuelson will also be attending the trip, and Dufault explained what he will be promoting. “Eric Samuelson will also be on the trip, and he is the chairman of the Minnesota Dry Bean Council,” said Dufault. “It’s very similar to our council, and he will be going over there to promote that, which is the largest state import of Minnesota products to Great Britain. So, it’s a big market for those guys.”
Dufault also noted that this trip has been in the works for a while and delayed a few times due to COVID-19. He also said that it’s a vital trip now that Britain has exited the European Union. “This trip was in the works pre-covid, which obviously messed everything up, so we had to push it back,” said Dufault. “With Britain exiting the European Union, they have a big bullseye and target on them. The U.S. is trying to finalize a trade agreement with them with many exports and imports, and the goal of this trip is that we can maybe leverage that a little bit.”
Dufault will fly back to Minnesota sometime on Friday evening, November 19. KROX will be sure to check back in with him once he returns to see how the trip went.
