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U.S. Grains Council utilizing new RAPP funding

A board member with the U.S. Grains Council (USGC) says new federal funding is helping build export demand for corn, sorghum, and barley.

Jim Reed, an Illinois farmer and at-large board member with USGC, says $17 million dollars from the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) is going to a variety of uses.

“A number of new programs over the next two to three years that will really help us get even bigger in the export conversation.”  He says, “Maybe go some places, or expand some programs we’ve been trying to get into more and just needed more funding. So, we’re probably going to be adding more staff and more locations.”

Reed says the goal is to not only move more raw commodities, but also their products, like ethanol.

“That has really been an area of growth.”  He says, “We stand to export 1.8 billion gallons of ethanol this year, which will be a record. So that is a tremendous amount of corn. That is a lot of dollars that are being put into the ag economy.”

He tells Brownfield the mission of selling U.S. products is never truly complete.

“We have to tell our story around the world.”  He says, “Obviously, we’re in a very competitive market worldwide with all the other corn producers. So that investment in the check off programs is really fundamental to supporting export products.”

Reed says recent USGC trade missions to Japan and other Pacific Rim countries show there is still strong interest in those products.