As the House of Representatives\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 agriculture committee takes its first steps toward next year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s farm bill reauthorization, the committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s oversight hearings offer an opportunity for the U.S. Grains Council to educate experienced and new House members on the Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s market development efforts and successes.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important they understand how Council member contributions effectively leverage the Foreign Market Development program (FMD) and Market Access Program (MAP) to support the maintenance and expansion of commercial exports of U.S. agricultural products and to improve the U.S. balance of trade in general,\u00e2\u20ac\ufffd Floyd Gaibler, USGC director of trade policy, explained.<\/p>\n
In a statement for an April 7 hearing by the agriculture subcommittee that oversees both FMD and MAP, Council President and CEO Tom Dorr provided compelling examples of the successful use of FMD and MAP funds, including:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2Morocco, which bought no U.S. sorghum in 2009 but imported 123,000 metric tons (4.8 million bushels) of U.S. sorghum valued at $21 million in the 2010 marketing year.
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2The 2011 VIV \u00e2\u20ac\u201cAsia Trade Show, where Council participation generated an estimated $38,000 in on-site sales by member companies and projections that show-related sales will top $195,000 over the next 12 months.
\u00e2\u20ac\u00a2The Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s world-wide promotion of distillers dried grains, which last year increased U.S. exports to 7.2 million metric tons valued at $1.4 billion.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Independent analysis demonstrates that Council efforts last year generated almost $22 for every $1 that Council members and the federal government invested,\u00e2\u20ac\ufffd Gaibler said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Increasing export demand also increased the price U.S. farmers received for their grain. Last year that meant more than $915 million in income for feed grain producers.\u00e2\u20ac\ufffd<\/p>\n
The briefing statement also reviewed the Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s historical commitment to demonstrating performance and accountability for its programs\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 effects on market development and Council members. Additionally, it explored the Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s process: making comprehensive assessments of current and potential market opportunities, determining actions to address constraints that inhibit trade and applying specific performance measures to calculate market development gains.<\/p>\n
Educating committee members is a critical task, according to Gaibler, who noted that half of the representatives on the subcommittee were first elected to Congress last November. Of the 46 members on the full committee, more than half are either new to Congress or have never been through the farm bill reauthorization process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As the House of Representatives\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 agriculture committee takes its first steps toward next year\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s farm bill reauthorization, the committee\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s oversight hearings offer an opportunity for the U.S. Grains Council to educate experienced and new House members on the Council\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s market development efforts and successes. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s important they understand how Council member contributions effectively leverage the … <\/p>\n