U.S. Grains Council Receives Second Round Of Regional Agriculture Promotion Program Funding From U.S. Department of Agriculture

WASHINGTON, DC — The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) today received notice of a second round of funding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) under its Regional Agriculture Promotion Program (RAPP). The award will disperse $16 million to the Council for use in developing markets that will be crucial to the future of U.S. agriculture exports.

“USDA’s decision to distribute additional RAPP funding will allow our organization to continue programming it began with the initial round of funding and the new allocation enables us to expand into additional markets that were not earmarked in the first iteration,” said Verity Ulibarri, USGC chairwoman. “We thank the USDA for having confidence in our programming and look forward to using the funding to continue to achieve measurable results for U.S. producers, buyers and sellers alike.”

RAPP was launched after a request from the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry to bolster, diversify and expand market opportunities for U.S. agriculture products. The first round of the Council’s funding – $17 million – came in 2024.

In addition to programming focused in Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, the second round of funding can also be used in the European Union for continued export market development for both U.S. ethanol and feed grains.

“The second tranche of RAPP funding will allow the Council to diversify and expand market opportunities for our commodities in both nascent markets and with our traditional top customers,” said Ryan LeGrand, USGC president and CEO. “It’s a very big world, and we are excited to work the additional funding into our export market promotion efforts already underway, but also into new ones for which we’ve been planning for years.”