Many are still holding out hope for a new farm bill in the lame duck session. That might all depend on how the election turns out next week. With the September 30 expiration of the current farm bill, many important agriculture programs are on hold, including several trade promotion programs.
“Title III is often called the trade title, and it accounts for less than half a percentage of overall farm bill spending,” says Farm Bureau economist Betty Resnick. “Half of that goes to an aid program called Food for Peace, which uses U.S. commodities to do capacity building, and the other half goes to export market development. These export market development programs have major bang for their buck, and a 2022 study found for every dollar spent on these programs, an additional $24.50 of agricultural exports resulted.”
Resnick says that Title III programs promote a wide range of commodities.
“These programs benefit all of agriculture. That’s one of my favorite parts about them. Over 70 organizations representing different products were awarded grant funding in 2024. This hugely diverse mix ranges from big commodities like corn and soy to smaller ones like hops, ginseng and cranberries. As cranberries are really only grown in North America, export development dollars are used to educate consumers on how to incorporate them into their diet in culturally relevant ways and on their many, many benefits.”
Resnick explains that ag trade isn’t just important to those of us in agriculture, it’s essential to the overall economy.
“About 20 percent of all U.S. ag production is exported overseas and there’s also $2 of domestic economic activity created for every dollar of ag exports. So, ag trade is important both for our sector and the economy at large.”
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Source: NAFB News Service
