The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced it will make an additional $300 million available through the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program to help grow export markets for American farm and food products around the world.
“Access to international markets supports U.S. farmers at home and food security throughout the world,” said Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small in a release on Aug. 5. “USDA launched RAPP last year as part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s commitment to create more, new and better markets for U.S. producers and agribusinesses, and we’ve seen tremendous interest, culminating in more than a billion dollars in proposals for the first $300 million round of RAPP funding earlier this year. Given the importance of exports in supporting farm income and rural economic development, we’re delighted to be able to make an additional $300 million available this year.”
Secretary Vilsack announced in October 2023 that USDA would use $1.2 billion from the Commodity Credit Corporation to establish RAPP to help U.S. exporters expand their customer base beyond established markets such as China, Mexico and Canada, which collectively account for nearly half of all current export sales. In May, USDA allocated the first $300 million in RAPP funding to 66 U.S. organizations to implement hundreds of market development projects focusing on a wide range of products and markets.
USDA published a Notice of Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov Aug. 5 and interested organizations must apply by Oct. 4. USDA anticipates that allocations will be announced before the end of the calendar year. As with the first round of RAPP funding, USDA is again setting aside $25 million specifically for activities in Africa, which has the some of the fastest-growing economies – but the lowest levels of U.S. export market investment – of any region in the world.
The industry responded to the news favorably.
“The first tranche of RAPP funding is already at work identifying and developing new opportunities globally for U.S. pork, beef and lamb, and USMEF is excited to see that implementation of the program continues to move forward,” said U.S. Meat Export Federation (USMEF) President and CEO Dan Halstrom. “RAPP’s emphasis on market diversification is especially critical, as it allows for dedication of resources in markets where demand has only scratched the surface. In this respect, RAPP is an excellent complement to USDA’s Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program, as well as the checkoff investments of our industry partners, which allow USMEF to expand and defend market share in both emerging and well-developed destinations.”
