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Study evaluates impact of ag export promotion programs

A new study shows the effectiveness of USDA foreign market programs in boosting ag exports.

Chair of the Coalition to Promote Agricultural Exports Robbie Minnich tells Brownfield every dollar invested in the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) program returns $24.50.

“These programs increase cash receipts by over $12 billion per year so they are working well,” he says.

Unfortunately, he says funding for the programs in the farm bill has not been increased in some time, causing the real dollar value to decrease.

“We will be asking in the next farm bill for a full doubling of the MAP and FMD programs and if Congress were to do that, we would see a tremendous increase in U.S. ag exports that would increase to over $44 billion,” he says.

Minnich says the U.S. pales in comparison to competing counties like the European Union when it comes to export promotion and additional funding is instrumental for the growth of ag exports.

The Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports is made up of a group of 150 organizations, including the U.S. Grains Council which prepared the study, the U.S. Dairy Export Council, the U.S. Meat Export Federation, and more.