Senators push USDA to promote Georgia pecans for international trade, help state’s farmers

ATLANTA — Both of Georgia’s U.S. Senators are working to have the state’s farmers get a bit of a boost from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Sens. Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock announced Wednesday that they were urging the USDA to put more of a promotional effort into trade agreements that feature exports of pecans.

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To make that happen, the senators are asking the USDA to provide adequate promotional resources for Georgia farmers to market their pecans.

Both senators are asking the USDA to use funding from the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program, or RAPP, which is supposed to help increase U.S. exports to new markets, but said that only a small allocation of the funds had been earmarked for pecan promotion.

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“According to USDA, RAPP is intended to build demand for American agricultural exports in high-potential markets around the globe. Therefore, we were disappointed to see the U.S. pecan industry receive a woefully inadequate allocation under this program,” the senators said in a joint statement. “As you consider future allocations through the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program and other agricultural export support programs, such as the Market Access Program, we urge you to give the fullest consideration to products like pecans which have enormous potential to support the growth of American agricultural exports to countries around the world.”

According to data from the USDA, more than half of all pecan exports from the U.S. have gone to just two countries since 2019, those countries being Mexico and China.

The inquiry by the two senators follows Ossoff announcing in 2022 that the Republic of India would be slashing tariffs on pecan imports after working with Warnock and Georgia Congressmen Sanford Bishop and Austin Scott, among other efforts to support Georgia farmers.

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