USDA’s Foreign Ag Service holds Farm Bill listening session

SSGA Executive Director Eric Wenberg represented the organization at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) listening session last week in Washington, D.C. to hear comments on how to best implement new provisions to the Farm Bill’s trade title.

The trade title encompasses USDA’s foreign market development programs and food aid. SSGA will participate in foreign market development programs directly after earning a grant through the Agricultural Trade Program as part of the U.S. soy industry’s awards for soy promotion abroad. SSGA’s was awarded a grant totaling $1.5 million.

The audience was complimentary of farm bill programs for foreign market development. Jay Howell, executive director of the Coalition to Promote Agricultural Exports, reported that programs saw a 24:1 return on investment in an Informa 2016 cost benefit study, indicating how effectively they operate. For every dollar invested, the return to exports and jobs was 24 times greater. The market development programs require matching investments from industry, combining to increase the investment and make sure industry is responsible to work together.

“One way the programs achieve this high level of effectiveness,” Wenberg said, “is to ask whole industries to work together to make strategy and work cohesively for the advancement of the interests of all such as how the U.S. Soybean Export Committee, American Soybean Association, the United Soybean Board, state soybean organizations and other organizations like SSGA collaborate to market U.S. soy abroad.”

Foreign Market Development programs, which have an annual budget for $255 million, are poised to become more efficient under the approved new legislation, as unused funds from underutilized grant programs will be permitted to be reprogrammed to other grants where demand outstrips available funds. The new legislation also created the opportunity to use programs in Cuba.

SSGA will be tracking USDA’s FAS farm bill implementation for foreign market development grants and will apply for more grants in the future, collaborating with the other soybean organizations.