USDA awards 2011 export funds to trade groups

USDA awards 2011 export funds to trade groups    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service on Friday awarded fiscal year 2011 funding to about 70 U.S. agricultural groups to help expand commercial export markets for their goods.
   “We are pleased to announce that through the Foreign Market Development Program (FMD) and the Market Access Program (MAP), we are able to award approximately $226 million to help dozens of U.S. agricultural organizations and businesses increase export opportunities,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, in a statement.
   Under FMD, the Foreign Agricultural Service will allocate $31.7 million to 22 trade groups that represent U.S. agricultural producers. The groups, which must contribute a minimum 50 percent cost share, will conduct activities that help maintain or increase demand for U.S. agricultural commodities overseas.

Vilsack

   Through MAP, the Foreign Agricultural Service will provide $194.4 million to 68 nonprofit organizations and cooperatives. MAP participants must contribute a minimum 10-percent match for generic marketing and promotion activities and a dollar-for-dollar match for promotion of branded products by small businesses and cooperatives.
   USDA estimates that every $1 billion in farm exports supports about 8,400 U.S. jobs. U.S. farm goods exports in fiscal year 2011, ending Sept. 30, are projected to surpass previous records by $20 billion. Moreover, the agricultural trade balance — a balance of U.S. exports versus foreign imports — is projected to set a record surplus of $47.5 billion in 2011.