USDA awards $200m to promote exports

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service on Tuesday announced an awarding of $200 million to numerous producer and trade organizations to help expand export markets for the country’s agricultural commodities and products.    The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service on Tuesday announced an awarding of $200 million to numerous producer and trade organizations to help expand export markets for the country’s agricultural commodities and products.
   The funds are presented through two programs: the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program.
    Under MAP, the Foreign Agricultural Service will provide $173.5 million in fiscal year 2017 to 70 nonprofit organizations and cooperatives. The organizations use the funds to help U.S. agricultural producers promote their products to consumers worldwide through activities such as market research, technical assistance, and support for participation in trade fairs and exhibits, USDA said.
   Some of the largest recipients of MAP funds include Cotton Council International ($14.9 million); U.S. Meat Export Federation ($13.3 million); Food Export USA Northeast ($9.15 million); American Hardwood Export Council, APA-The Engineered Wood Association, Softwood Export Council, and Southern Forest Products Association (collectively, $8.66 million); Food Export Association of the Midwest USA ($8.5 million); Wester U.S. Agricultural Trade Association ($6.88 million); U.S. Grains Council ($6.67 million); Wine Institute ($6.63 million); Southern United States Trade Association ($6.5 million); U.S. Wheat Associates ($6.08 million); American Soybean Association ($5.34 million); and USA Poultry and Egg Export Council ($5.26 million).
   Through FMD, the agency will allocate $26.6 million in fiscal year 2017 funds to 26 trade organizations that represent U.S. agricultural producers. The USDA explained that FMD focuses on “generic promotion of U.S. commodities, rather than consumer-oriented promotion of branded products, and preference is given to organizations that represent an entire industry or are nationwide in membership and scope.”
   Some of the largest recipients of FMD funds in fiscal year 2017 include the American Soybean Association ($6.56 million); Cotton Council International ($3.97 million); U.S. Wheat Associates ($3.3 million); U.S. Grain Council ($2.89 million); and American Hardwood Export Council, APA-The Engineered Wood Association, Softwood Export Council, and Southern Forest Products Association (collectively, $2.7 million).
   A recent study shows that MAP and FMD contributed $309 billion to farm export revenue between 1977 and 2014, an average of $8.2 billion per year. From 2002 to 2014, the programs raised average annual farm cash income by $2.1 billion, annual U.S. economic output by $39.3 billion, annual gross domestic product (GDP) by $16.9 billion, and annual labor income by $9.8 billion, USDA noted.