As President Donald Trump departed on Friday for Asia, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet said Colorado’s agricultural community is relying on the president to keep his campaign promises and negotiate better trade agreements rather than scrap deals he’s called “horrible” and “so bad” for the United States.

Noting that Colorado farmers export the vast majority of the wheat they grow, Bennet, a Democrat, called it critical that the state’s export markets not only stay open but expand, particularly as the strong dollar has driven commodity prices down on the global market.

“Eighty percent of the wheat we grow in Colorado is exported, and these markets are enormously important to us. We need to make sure they stay open, they remain open, that we open other markets, that other countries aren’t putting unfair tariffs on the products we supply to them,” he said.

“I think it’s important not to have a trade war with the people who are buying Colorado’s agricultural products – buying our wheat, buying our corn, buying our beef,” Bennet continued. “I hope the president is able to accomplish what he said on the campaign trail, which is not just tear up existing trade agreements but negotiate better ones. I know Colorado’s farmers and ranchers are watching this more closely than anybody. A lot of them voted for President Trump, but they expect him to keep his promises on trade, and I hope that he will.”

Bennet spoke with reporters after touring the massive Ardent Mills flour mill in Commerce City. Processing 40,000 bushels of wheat into 1.8 million pounds of flour every day – enough to fill 30 semi-truckloads – the mill employs 90 people and produces more than a dozen varieties of flour. It’s one of 40 mills operated by the Denver-based company, a joint venture formed in 2014 between agribusiness giants ConAgra, Cargill and CHS.

Marveling at the mill’s technology – a single worker sometimes runs the entire operation, an Ardent Mills scientist said during a stop in a control room that looked like it could launch the Space Shuttle – Bennet said Colorado’s farmers and ranchers benefit greatly from research undertaken at Colorado State University with the support of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Farmers have a very hard job under any circumstances, but one of the reasons their job is hard is they don’t set the price,” Bennet said. “Unlike any small businessperson, they can’t turn around and say, ‘I’ll raise the price to my customer.’ So they’re always innovating, always looking to find ways of adding margin if they can. That’s where CSU comes in.”

CSU scientists recently helped Ardent Mills develop a flour produced specifically for a national chain restaurant’s deep dish pizza dough, a company spokesman explained during the tour.

“That’s a huge line of business for them, and a huge customer for our farmers,” Bennet said.

The flour mill tour took place as lawmakers gear up to start work on the 2018 Farm Bill, which the senator’s office said he hopes will be in shape ahead of the current bill’s expiration next September.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2016 bulletin says Colorado wheat exports generated $266 million in revenue in 2014, the most recent year available. Colorado ranked 10th in the nation in wheat production in 2015, according to the same report.

Colorado’s top export markets for goods in 2013 were Canada, Mexico, China, Japan and South Korea, according to the Trade Partnership by way of a report published by the Business Roundtable. (The same countries are among Colorado’s top export markets for services, although Switzerland bumps South Korea to sixth place in that ranking.)

Trump embarked Friday on a 12-day, five-country tour with stops planned in China, Japan and South Korea, as well as the Philippines and Vietnam.