Report: U.S. Far Behind EU In Ag Promotions

A new study suggests the United States may be falling behind its competitors, especially the European Union when it comes to promoting agricultural products, especially internationally.  Greg Hanes with the USMEF said they use two government programs when it comes to product promotion; Market Assess Program, which makes available $200 million per year, and the Foreign Market Development Program, which accounts for over $34 million.

“We typically use the MAP program more for direct programming in the international markets, and the FMD program is utilized for a lot of the administrative costs that we have in running those programs.”

Hanes says the research conducted by Informa Economics, found that there is a big difference between U.S. spending and EU spending.

“They found that the European wine industry alone was receiving over $300 million just for their promotions.  And that, one industry is more than the entire ag community in the United States is receiving on ag promotions internationally.”

Altogether the European Union spent roughly $1 billion on marketing in 2016.  Hanes said funding for promotion has been flat over the past couple of years, and the next opportunity to increase MAP or FMD funding comes during the upcoming Farm Bill talks.

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