USDA has announced details of a new funding program for the promotion of agricultural exports. It’s called the America First Trade Promotion Program. U.S. Meat Export Federation President and CEO, Dan Halstrom, says it’s another effort by the administration to focus on agricultural export market development.
“We’re very appreciative of the opportunity to put an application in,” Halstrom says. “It was just released here in the last few days, and this will be 2026 to the 2028 marketing year where we’ll be able to implement these programs.”
The program first announced by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins in late September, includes $285 million in funding to enhance exports of U.S. beef, pork and lamb and other agricultural products. It’s designed to enhance existing programs such as the Market Access Program and Foreign Market Development Program. It also offers funding to defend some key markets.
“Most of the world is available to invest in, including Mexico, which was not included in some of the
previous programs,” Halstrom explains, noting that there’s a lot of business to be had across the entire agriculture chain.
While the initial release of the program was held up by the government shutdown, USDA staff worked to
quickly get the application process started.
“This is another example of USDA really supporting American agriculture,” Halstrom says. “The support of USDA FAS in particular has just been phenomenal, and we give a real good shout-out to these folks for their support.”
