US agriculture secretary Tom Vilsack has announced that the US Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has awarded funding to around 70 different agricultural organisations to help them expand export markets for their goods in fiscal 2011.
'We are pleased to announce that through the Foreign Market Development Programme (FMD) and the Market Access Programme (MAP), we are able to award approximately US$226m to help dozens of US agriculture organisations and businesses increase export opportunities,' said Vilsack.
Under the FMD, the FAS will allocate a total of US$31.7m to 22 trade organisations that represent US agricultural producers, with these in turn required to contribute a minimum 50 per cent cost share.
Under the MAP, meanwhile, FAS will provide US$194.4m to 68 non-profit organisations and cooperatives, with participants contributing a minimum 10 per cent match for generic marketing and promotion activities, and a dollar-for-dollar match for promotion of branded products by small businesses and cooperatives.
'Through FMD, MAP and other market development programmes, USDA is helping farmers, ranchers and the businesses that support them open and expand international markets for US agricultural exports,' Vilsack added. 'Ultimately, these efforts are helping achieve President Obama's National Export Initiative goal of doubling all US exports by the close of 2014.'
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