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Strategic Objective
Increase Agricultural Opportunities by Ensuring a Robust Safety Net, Creating New Markets, and Supporting a Competitive Agricultural System
Strategic Objective
Overview
The economic vitality and quality of life in rural America depends on a healthy agricultural production system. Farmers and ranchers face a challenging global, technologically advanced, and competitive business environment. USDA works to ensure that producers are prosperous and competitive, have access to new markets, can manage their risks, and receive support in times of economic distress or weather-related disasters.
Strengthen the Farm Financial Safety Net
The Department strives to provide producers with prompt and equitable disaster assistance, income support payments, marketing assistance loans, farm loans, and risk management tools. USDA partners with commercial lenders to guarantee farm ownership and operating loans and makes direct loans to producers to purchase property or finance farm operating expenses. USDA's loan programs are available to producers who are temporarily unable to obtain financing commercially. The Federal Crop Insurance Program mitigates production and revenue losses from yield or price fluctuations and provides timely indemnity payments.
To further strengthen the farm financial safety net, USDA will:
- Improve partnerships with other agricultural lenders to better leverage limited funding resources;
- Expand crop insurance availability and product coverage, especially for livestock, pasture, rangeland, forage, organic, and specialty crops;
- Use geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing, precision agriculture, and data mining to improve crop insurance products and program integrity;
- Provide timely disaster relief to producers using available programs, use GIS to assess damage rapidly, and partner with other agencies on disaster relief outreach and;
- Expand outreach for farm storage facility loans to biomass, fruit, and vegetable producers.
Facilitate Access to International Markets
USDA expands and protects international market opportunities and connects agricultural exporters to customers. The Department works to strengthen the global rules-based trading system and supports development of international standards to facilitate safe trade. Cooperative efforts with other U.S. Government agencies and industries ensure that America’s producers have fair market access, understanding of key market trends, and support to overcome market barriers. To address the threats to international trade posed by high-consequence animal and plant pests and pathogens, USDA supports research, education, and extension programs, and networked regulatory, surveillance, and rapid response capabilities.
USDA works with exporters, importers, and other end-users of U.S. agricultural products around the world to facilitate sales in global markets. In cooperation with other U.S. government agencies, USDA monitors and investigates discrepancies reported by importing countries on the quality or weight of U.S. grains, oilseeds, and related products.
To further facilitate access to international markets, USDA will:
- Stimulate greater involvement by small- and medium-sized enterprises selling U.S. agricultural products;
- Negotiate and implement trade agreements and support international equivalency agreements;
- Facilitate the overseas marketing efforts of U.S. commodity organizations; and
- Reduce technical barriers to trade and eliminate sanitary and phytosanitary barriers not based on sound science.
Support the Development of New Domestic Markets
Accessing domestic markets helps build financial sustainability for producers and provides fresh, local food for consumers. USDA supports the planning, coordination, and education necessary for thriving regional food systems and replication of successful models. USDA will work closely with partners to develop and revitalize infrastructure for regional food systems. This includes innovative new opportunities and proven approaches like cooperatives and farmers markets. USDA analyzes market trends and provides tools to help producers identify opportunities. USDA also oversees national standards for the production and handling of agricultural products labeled as organic. To increase the number of certified organic operations, USDA will support research and education that enables organic production; reduce overlapping requirements; eliminate other obstacles; and collaborate with others to make certification more feasible for small and beginning farmers and business.
Ensure a Financially Sustainable and Competitive Agricultural System
USDA manages farm price support and commodity purchase programs to help balance supply and demand and conducts oversight to protect producers from unfair competition and unfair business practices in the livestock, meat, and poultry markets. Working with the Department of Justice, USDA enforces fair market practices and takes action against anti-competition behavior, to create a level playing field for producers.
The Department ensures efficient marketing of agricultural products through clear and consistent descriptions and measurements of the grade, quality and quantity of products that are bought and sold. By providing current, unbiased statistics, price and sales information USDA assists in the orderly marketing and distribution of farm commodities to inform decision-making by agricultural producers and agribusinesses and to ensure market stability. USDA will ensure that USDA-approved and licensed warehouse programs maintain adequate storage facilities, adequate frequency of warehouse examinations, and reduced product losses. USDA foods will be delivered in a timely manner, within contract specifications, and at competitive prices.
USDA develops and maintains national standards for the production and handling of agricultural products labeled as organic and examines and accredits State and private organic certifying agents. By providing education resources on organics to producers through its field offices, USDA will better serve diverse management systems including organic and specialty crops.
The Department works to ensure that minority, women, beginning, and other socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have full knowledge and access to its programs. USDA also works with producer and farmworker organizations and the U.S. Department of Labor to improve working conditions and income for farmworkers.
Increase the Number of Certified Organic Operations and Expand Programs and Services for Organic Producers
USDA will support research and education that enables organic production; reduce overlapping requirements; and collaborate with others to make certification more feasible for small and beginning farmers and businesses.
Protect the Foundations of the Agricultural System
USDA provides leadership in creating and disseminating knowledge spanning the biological, physical, and social sciences through agricultural research, economic analysis, statistics, and partnerships with Cooperative Extension, and higher education institutions. The Department conducts research, education, and extension programming to reduce the costs of agricultural inputs and to improve crop and animal production efficiency and practices. Research efforts lead to more thorough assessments of Americans’ nutritional needs; new methods for sustaining a competitive agricultural economy; and a better understanding of how to enhance the natural resource base. Research priorities include improving agriculturally important plants and animals, including those resilient to anticipated changes in climate. USDA will use the cooperative extension system to transfer technology and best practices from the laboratory into active use.
In coordination with Federal partners, USDA helps higher-education institutions with undergraduate and graduate programs in agriculture develop strong science, technology, engineering, and math curriculums, and increase enrollment in secondary and two-year post-secondary programs, especially from underrepresented groups. As part of USDA’s science leadership, the Department will continue to provide Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education grants for projects designed to help America’s two million small- and medium scale producers improve their knowledge of sustainable agriculture production and marketing practices [1]
[1] 2007 Census of Agriculture. Small- and medium-sized farms and ranches are less than 1,000 acres.
Read Less...Progress Update
America’s farmers and ranchers are expanding into new markets around the world, spurring innovation, and creating jobs and opportunity on and off the farm. Agriculture exports have had the strongest seven-year period of growth in our Nation’s history and reached the third highest level of record in FY 2015 of $139.7 billion. Agricultural exports have climbed more than 45 percent in value since 2009, totaling $911.3 billion over the past seven years.
USDA's Farm Service Agency (FSA) accomplished its goal of increasing the amount of credit assistance provided to minority and women farmers and ranchers. In FY 2015, FSA also exceeded its targeted level of performance for lending to beginning farmers. Lending to beginning farmers and ranchers increased by seven percent to $2.5 billion, continuing a long-term trend of increasing loan assistance to beginning farmers and ranchers. Similar results were achieved with respect to lending to socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers (women and minorities), with total loan obligations up nine percent to $827 million. The microloan program posted a third consecutive strong year, with demand greatly exceeding expectations with 6,596 microloans obligated. Despite strong demand for FSA’s loan programs, FSA accomplished its annual goals for loan processing timeliness,helping to ensure that credit is provided when the need arises. FSA obligated 9,264 direct and guaranteed farm operating and ownership loans to minorities and women, an increase of six percent from FY 2014. These loans, valued at $827 million, help thousands of farmers and ranchers to start or maintain their farming operations. The largest percentage changes in lending to minorities and women occurred in the direct farm ownership (FO) loan program, an increase of 19 percent in both the number of loans and dollar amount - 1,223 loans valued at $208 million in FY 2015. The microloan program is also an important source of credit for minorities and women, as FSA obligated 2,320 microloans to them in FY 2015. As of September 30, 2015, FSA has 20,796 minority and women farmers and ranchers in its loan portfolio, a significant increase from the 16,900 at the end of FY 2008.
The Federal crop insurance program continues to serve as the nation’s primary farm safety net. Today America’s farmers and ranchers rely upon crop insurance to address the inherent risks of agriculture. In FY 2015, USDA’s exceeded its target for risk protection provided to agricultural producers through the Federal Crop Insurance Program by providing $68.7 billion in normalized value of risk protection.
