Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack should tap a USDA reserve fund to expand international food aid and export promotion programs, said the leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee in a letter released on Wednesday. “We urge you to consider these requests and stand ready to support USDA in its efforts to address these needs,” said chair Debbie Stabenow and John Boozman, the committee’s senior Republican.
There was bipartisan support for both objectives, and the $30 billion held by the Commodity Credit Corp. (CCC), a USDA agency, would be an appropriate source of the funding, wrote Stabenow and Boozman. Increased food aid would address humanitarian needs abroad and support farmers through the donation of U.S.-grown food, they said. Farm groups want more money to promote agricultural exports, an important part of farm income. One-fifth of U.S. farm production is sold overseas.
Some lawmakers have proposed doubling funding for the two major U.S. export promotion programs, the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market Development Program. House Republicans, irked by the use of CCC funds to launch the USDA’s climate-smart initiative, would take away most of Vilsack’s discretion to tap those funds.
Farm exports were a record $196.1 billion in fiscal 2022. They were forecast at $177.5 billion in the current fiscal year, which ends on Sept. 30, and $172 billion in fiscal 2024.