Missouri Department of Agriculture Market Development Division
2002 Report
At the direction of Governor Bob Holden, Director Agriculture Lowell Mohler established a group of 38 leaders from all facets of agriculture to assess the current climate of agriculture in our state and to develop an agenda for its future. Throughout the spring and summer of 2001, these leaders conferred on issues and held public input forums to develop the scope of the problems and opportunities facing Missouri agriculture. The "One Missouri, One Agriculture" Task Force presented its final report to the Governor in December, 2001 with the following recommendations:
- Create a more favorable business climate for Missouri agriculture.
- Develop new and expanded product and market development opportunities for
Missouri agricultural products, both raw and processed.
- Expand access to capital for business creation and expansion.
- Create an organizational and communications infrastructure to better serve the needs of the ag community.
Governor Holden also recently appointed a Missouri Livestock Market Advisory Committee to offer advice toward the implementation and rule development process of the Missouri Livestock Marketing Act, and to offer policy suggestions for the development of fair and open markets for livestock sales in Missouri. The Advisory Committee is also charged with offering recommendations to the Director of Agriculture for the creation of new livestock processing infrastructure and the development of additional marketing options for livestock producers.
AgriTourism is an area that has grown exponentially in Missouri. As a result, an AgriMissouri AgriTourism Guide is being developed for Spring distribution. The guide will feature agriculture events and activities of interest. Included will be the familiar agriculture fairs and festivals along with community events, corn mazes, u-pick operations, Christmas tree farms, fee fishing and aquaculture operations, bed and breakfasts, orchards, wineries, colleges and many other points of interest.
We sponsored the very first Promoting AgriMissouri Products Pays Contest for FFA chapters. FFA chapters were encouraged to use AgriMissouri products for marketing and fundraising events. FFA chapters competed for a $1,000 top prize and winners will be announced at the State FFA Convention in April.
The 2001 Infiniti Missouri Wine Awards Tasting was held in September, 2001. The Governor's Cup for the best Missouri wine was awarded to the Held family of Stone Hill Winery, Hermann, for their 1999 Port.
The Market Development is fortunate to have received funding this year from the Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program for 3 projects. Two of the projects are a continuation of the first phases started last year. The third project focuses on direct marketing of organic corn and soybeans to European livestock and dairy farms. Because Europeans are increasingly concerned about their food supply, there is a growing demand for organic feed grains and soybeans needed for milk and meat production. This project will determine price thresholds, quality and quantity requirements, delivery requirements and the supply chain for organic corn and soybeans. An equally important component of the project is identifying a Missouri grain system. The project is intended to conclude how value can be increased at all levels. This approach offers a win-win situation by increasing the marketability of U.S. products while increasing profitability of European farmers.
North Dakota Department of Agriculture — Marketing Services
2002 Report
The Pride of Dakota program remains one of the key focuses of Marketing Services. The program now boasts over 325 members. New initiatives are in the works to make the program stronger such as education programs, innovative promotions and additional marketing opportunities.
One of the most successful promotions in Pride of Dakota is the Holiday Showcases. These three holiday retail shows take place in November and December and draw over 15,000 thousand in attendance. This is an important sales event for a majority of our members.
The www.shopnd.com website continues to grow. During this past year's holiday season the website doubled the sales from the previous year. Advertising and promotion are essential to keep this site successful.
The Department was a co-sponsor of a Value-Added Animal Agriculture Summit in January. The Summit was a success with over 140 people attending. Topics including livestock economic development, regulations, agriculture law, and market opportunities were covered in the two-day summit. A cross-section of the agriculture industry was represented at the Summit, including lenders, producers, commodity council, and rural economic developers.
Ohio Department of Agriculture
2002 Report
The Ohio Department of Agriculture Division of Markets has undergone severe budget cuts in the past year. The FY02 budget was cut by 34 percent from FY01 and the FY03 budget was cut 51 percent from FY01 levels. The OHIO PROUD program also received a cut of more than 25 percent in FY02. Fortunately, further cuts were not taken in FY03. Due to some staff vacancies we will not have resort to layoffs. However, we are now dividing responsibilities for the international livestock program between other staff members and we are not able to replace the OHIO PROUD Program Coordinator.
Even with all of the bad budget news, exciting things are happening here in Ohio. Steve Letson our international trade specialist for the hardwood industry has been working with seven other states that make up the Hardwood States Export Group to coordinate a Cochran activity for a delegation from China and Mexico. This delegation will travel to the IWF show in Atlanta this August. While at the trade show, they will have the opportunity to visit with a number of U.S. hardwood suppliers and participate in educational seminars. Steve is also leading a delegation of seven Ohio hardwood companies to the Furniwood Trade Show in Shanghai this March.
Ohio will host a delegation of Brazilian beef producers in early April and a delegation of Canadian sheep producers in June. These projects and a beef mission to Jalisco, Mexico are possible because of USLGE funding.
Participation in the OHIO PROUD Pavilion at the FMI/USFES and the NRA American Food Fair, has decreased slightly, although we still have 18 booths at FMI this year. We expect that in the coming months, Ohio companies will again be willing to travel both domestically and internationally. The major focus of our processed food and food ingredients efforts will be encouraging companies to apply for branded funds and to participate in MIATCO supported activities.
The Division of Markets has also taken the lead role in coordinating the distribution of the USDA Specialty Crop Block Grant Funds. Applications are due May 1 and award announcements will be made by July 1. Ohio received $800,000 in specialty crop funds. A portion of these funds may remain within the division to fund new specialty crop promotions.
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs - Market Develop. Branch
Spring heralds another season for Foodland Ontario, an identity program for locally grown produce. Ontario is a major North American import market with about three-quarters of produce consumed being imported from outside Canada. The program features media (TV, radio and press) and retail in-store promotion.
A full presentation on this long running program will be featured on the Wednesday morning program of this year's NAAMO conference.
This February, a mission of Ontario produce growers visited the Mexico City, Guanajuato and Guadalajara regions to develop an understanding of the Mexican growing and exporting situation as well as to determine if strategic alliance opportunities existed. The mission was very impressed with the dedication to and spending on quality and food safety that existed with the bigger growers/packers. Interestingly, while labor is perceived as a huge advantage to Mexican growers, there are some indications that the economic boom is having an impact on availability and perhaps wage levels as well. On the other hand, in this area, water supply is a limiting factor. Deep wells are the key water source. On average they are 80 meters deep with some as deep as 200 meters with levels dropping two to three meters per year. Pumping costs increase exponentially with increasing depth. There proved to be some commonality of issues that all North American producers seem to face. When one influential grower/packer was asked what is the key factor for his future success, he replied without hesitation that it is the ability of the industry to raise price levels to growers to cover the extra costs of food safety systems required in today's export markets.
Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade & Consumer Protection
Agriculture Development Division
2002 Report
A recent name change from the Division of Marketing to the Division of Agricultural Development and a Division reorganization reflects a change in our focus to better serve Wisconsin agriculture. Industry input from farmers, cooperatives, food companies and commodity groups challenged the Division to offer new services, more specialized projects and programs, and devote more emphasis on developing new products and markets for Wisconsin agriculture.
DATCP's Agricultural Development Division is unique among state development programs - it is focused solely on agriculture and the needs of the agriculture industry. While other programs that address business development often overlook the importance of agriculture, the Ag Development Division is only about agriculture. The division accesses numerous federal funding resources, specific to agriculture, to be used for the state's agriculture industry and provides multiple development options that have the flexibility to support a wide-range of development projects. Individual producers and small agricultural businesses that benefit from new development are often too small to afford the necessary research or lack the expertise to commercialize development ideas alone. By linking industry to the state's bounty of agricultural research and expertise, the division is the partner that can meet these needs.
Our new focus will prove vital in our division's ability to leverage maximum support from federal, state and local economic development resources to help farmers and agribusinesses develop, rebuild and grow in a rapidly changing agricultural economy. Through this financial assistance we will provide the business development tools to adequately support agricultural business development. The reorganized division will more effectively apply technical assistance to value-added agricultural projects. The reorganization also affords us the opportunity to provide more aggressive leadership and facilitation in the development process. This shift will allow the Division to concentrate on rebuilding the agricultural economy in ways that tap the entrepreneurial talents of farmers and agribusinesses and help identify and establish growth tracks that assist customers in realizing improved business opportunities.
The Division will continue to place major emphasis on International Development. For the past 36 years, the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has offered companies assistance in international market and trade development. A key part of this assistance will continue to be the Global Development Team that identifies market opportunities around the world for Wisconsin's agricultural companies and producers. In addition, the team provides technical expertise and market development initiatives to aid in the growth of Wisconsin agriculture through increased exports and the development of partnerships with agricultural industries across the globe. More than 26% of Wisconsin's total exports are agricultural/food products valued at $1.4 billion, which support more than 23,000 jobs in the state.
