USDA Announces Export Grants

 
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has provided funding allocations supporting more than 100 organizations’ efforts to help expand commercial markets for U.S. agricultural exports.

The fiscal year 2010 allocations were provided under FAS’ Emerging Markets Program (EMP), Foreign Market Development Program (FMD), Market Access Program (MAP), Quality Samples Program (QSP) and Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops Program (TASC) to help expand commercial markets for U.S. agricultural exports.

Twenty-one organizations benefited from receiving a total of $34.15 million in fiscal year 2010 through the FMD program. The FMD program provides cost-share assistance to nonprofit U.S. agricultural trade organizations to develop and maintain foreign markets for U.S. agricultural products.

Widespread Funding

For fiscal year 2010, the MAP allocated approximately $197 million, providing cost-share assistance to 66 nonprofit U.S. trade organizations and small-sized entities to help create, expand and maintain foreign markets for U.S. agricultural commodities and products. MAP participants must match a minimum of 10 percent of the funds allocated under the program for the cost of generic marketing and promotion activities.

For fiscal year 2010, the TASC program allocated more than $7.3 million to 26 organizations. The TASC works to expand markets for U.S. specialty crops. Resources are provided to address phytosanitary or related technical restrictions that prohibit or threaten the export of U.S. specialty crops. Specialty crops include all cultivated plants and their products produced in the United States except wheat, feed grains, oilseeds, cotton, rice, peanuts, sugar and tobacco.

USDA contributed information for this article.