The U.S. Grains Council (USGC) submitted its Unified Export Strategy (UES) last week to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service (USDA’s FAS) to articulate its program priorities for 2022 and apply for funds from USDA’s market development programs, including the Market Access Program (MAP) and the Foreign Market Development (FMD) program.
“The Council is submitting an ambitious proposal to USDA for 2022,” said Kurt Shultz, USGC senior director of global strategies, who oversees the UES process within the organization. “Many programs had to be scaled back in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic. However, we are optimistic about returning to a normal working environment in 2022, and our staff are ready to tackle the complex array of opportunities and challenges that exist in the trading environment around the world.”
The UES serves as the organization’s operational blueprint for its market development activities in about 50 countries. It is comprised of hundreds of pages that include background on markets, evaluation of activities and long-term strategies for promoting coarse grains and related products.
“The UES is a document that our global staff, with consultation from our stakeholders, have worked to compile for the past six months. It is their vision of how the Council can best represent U.S. corn, barley, sorghum, ethanol and co-product producers worldwide,” Shultz said.
“Whether it is in creating new market opportunities, building and expanding existing value chains or defending hard-won markets, this is the game plan for 2022 that our staff drafted, and our members reviewed during last February’s advisory team meetings.”
The funds the Council receives from the MAP and FMD programs, combined with support from USGC members including checkoff organizations, help USGC staff members stay innovative and effective as they engage in rapidly evolving global trade policy issues and ongoing trade disputes.
“A lot has changed in the past 12 months. The importance of global trade to the farmer’s bottom line has been highlighted by the ambitious grain export program we are seeing this marketing year as well as by the trade policy challenges of the last few years. The Council is a member-driven organization, and the marketing plan for 2022 reflects the strategic priorities of our members as they seek to continue to expand our export markets,” Shultz said.
About The U.S. Grains Council
The U.S. Grains Council develops export markets for U.S. barley, corn, sorghum and related products including distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS) and ethanol. With full-time presence in 28 locations, the Council operates programs in more than 50 countries and the European Union. The Council believes exports are vital to global economic development and to U.S. agriculture’s profitability. Detailed information about the Council and its programs is online at www.grains.org.