2019 FUNDING WILL HELP U.S. DRY BEAN COUNCIL (USDBC) REACH NEW MARKETS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 12, 2019

Portland, OR

Support from USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) has helped USDBC to surpass historical export development funding levels, receiving over $3 million through various funding mechanisms for the 2019 program year.  This includes the Market Access Program (MAP), Foreign Market Development (FMD), the Emerging Markets Program (EMP), the Global Broad-Based Initiatives (GBI) program and the newly created Agricultural Trade Promotion (ATP) program.  “It’s been a challenging 2018 and thanks to our public/private partnership with USDA/FAS, we are starting the new year in a very strong position to rebuild markets, like the EU, hit by trade retaliatory actions and establish new trade flows in underexplored trade destinations and market segments,” noted Rebecca Bratter, Executive Director.  She also emphasized the critical importance of all of the different export development programs in keeping U.S. agriculture competitive around the world, which in turn generates millions of dollars for the U.S. farm economy. 

Deon Maasjo, of Kelley Bean Company in Oakes, North Dakota and President of USDBC pointed out that, “we are especially excited for new opportunities provided in the ATP which we have designed to be innovative and exploratory.  2019 and 2020 will see several new events that we would not be able to conduct without this support.”

Implementation of USDBC’s 2019 activities, while slightly delayed due to the government shutdown, is set to begin and gather speed this week as budgets are firmed up, put in place and worldwide staff deploy to assignments.  An important part of this work will be measuring and evaluating results for success as part of our responsibility to show the importance and impact of these programs.

For more information please contact the US Dry Bean Council at info@.

The U.S. Dry Beans Council (USDBC) was formed over forty years ago to represent farmers, dealers and corporate members who grow, handle, export and process dry beans grown in the United States.  The purpose and mission of the USDBC is to provide a unified voice for the dry bean industry, and to promote the healthy attributes of our food to increase the consumption of beans grown in the United States.  The USDBC strives to be successful in representing the diverse interests of the U.S. dry bean producers, handlers and processors, affecting the U.S. industry’s ability to compete both domestically and globally.