Pear Marketing Funding Pt 1
With today's Fruit Grower Report, I'm Bob Larson. A big payday for Northwest pear growers in the form of marketing funds that are part of the USDA's trade mitigation relief package.
Pear Bureau Northwest president Kevin Moffitt says it's the second round of the Agricultural Trade Program funding ...
MOFFITT ... "We apply every year as do the cherries and apple groups, and a lot of different groups around the country, through a program called the Market Access Program. And, it's for developing markets around the world and not to be used in the U.S. market."
Moffitt says this year's funding should really help ...
MOFFITT ... "The Trade Mitigation Funds that have been made available recently to help offset some of the trade tariffs and things that are happening around the world is administered through the same group that administers the Market Access Funding. So, we applied for, last year and this year, trade mitigation funds for export marketing. And, last year, we received about $800,000 and this year about $1.5-million dollars, so it's a pretty good shot in the arm to help our export markets."
Moffitt says the funding helps with many of the trade offsets ...
MOFFITT ... "where we can't get into China because of pretty high tariffs now, and it'll help us market into other important countries such as Mexico and India and even Canada. So, we're using those funds in a lot of markets where we can get incremental business with some of these market access funds."
Listen tomorrow for more on the ATP funding, its limitations and the help it provides the pear industry.
