Agricultural Exports See Record Year; Farm Bill Needed
This week, the USDA released a statement from Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack applauding the US agriculture industry for reaching a record $140.9 billion in agricultural exports in fiscal year 2013.
Vilsack's comments included an urging that Congress pass a Food and Farm Bill.
"First and foremost, Congress needs to pass a new Food, Farm and Jobs Bill to continue the trade promotion programs that helped American agriculture achieve these results," Vilsack said. "These trade promotion efforts return $35 in economic benefits for every dollar invested – a great value for producers who gain access to additional market opportunities abroad, as well as rural communities that depend on a solid agriculture sector to create and support jobs."
Morrison works with a number of trade promotion programs on behalf of our clients that encourage export promotion, including the Value Added Producer Grant Program and Specialty Crop Block Grant Program. We too see the economic benefits to producers and rural communities and are hopeful that Congress will pass a Farm Bill to secure these beneficial programs.