The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) awarded funding through the 2014 Farm Bill to more than 60 U.S. agricultural organizations to help expand commercial export markets for American products.
Through the Market Access Program (MAP), FAS will provide $171.8 million to 62 non-profit organizations and cooperatives. According to an agency news release, FAS partners with U.S. agricultural trade associations, cooperatives, state regional trade groups and small businesses to share the costs of overseas marketing and promotional activities that help build commercial export markets for American products and commodities.
FAS will allocate $24.6 million to 22 trade organizations that represent U.S. farmers and ranchers through the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program, which focuses on trade servicing and trade capacity building by helping to create, expand and maintain long-term export markets.