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Sep 07, 2017
Soy growers continue to urge support for enhancing U.S. international market development efforts.
The American Soybean Association (ASA), as part of the Coalition to Promote U.S. Agricultural Exports, sent a letter last week to House Committee on Agriculture Chariman Mike Conaway and Ranking Member Collin Peterson.
In the letter, the groups call for increasing vital funding in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) export programs like the Market Access Program (MAP) and Foreign Market Development (FMD) in the new farm bill.
“Therefore, we strongly urge that MAP funding be increased to $400 million annually and FMD funding to $69 million annually, with the increases phased in over the life of the new Farm Bill,” the groups state in the letter. “MAP has been funded at its current annual level of $200 million since 2006 and FMD at its annual level of $34.5 million since 2002. Despite a tremendous growth in export opportunity for farmers and small businesses since the 2002 Farm Bill was enacted, the real, effective federal funding that reaches the agricultural cooperators carrying out market development work has steadily eroded, while our international competitors continue to greatly outspend us.”
Click here to read the entire letter.
