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New Study Shows 23-to-One Return on Producer
Wheat Export Promotion
ARLINGTON, VA. (January 29, 2010)
-- U.S. wheat producers invested an average of about $10
million per year to promote their products overseas between 2000 and 2007, and
for every one of those dollars they received $23 back in increased net revenue.
That is the principal conclusion of a new economic analysis of wheat export
promotion released today by U.S. Wheat Associates (USW), the wheat industry’s
export market development organization.
USW commissioned the study with funding from the USDA/Foreign Agricultural
Service (FAS) Market Access Program. Dr. Harry M. Kaiser, the Gellert Family
Professor of Applied Economics and Management at Cornell and director of the
Cornell Commodity Promotion Research Program (CCPRP), designed and conducted the
research using established methods he and the CCPRP team developed.
“The study showed that U.S. wheat export promotion had a large and beneficial
impact for producers and the economy that far exceeded its cost,” Dr. Kaiser
said. “One of the econometric models we used showed that the overall average
revenue benefit to the entire wheat industry from the combined producer and FAS
expenditures was estimated to be about $115 for each dollar spent.” The study
also predicted that increasing the promotion investment has the potential for
even greater returns to wheat producers, the wheat supply chain, and the U.S.
economy.
Dr. Kaiser quantified the impact of wheat export promotion through a model that
accounts for several factors affecting commodity export demand. The study
determined that cutting promotion by 50 percent between 2000 and 2007 would have
reduced wheat exports by 17.1 percent, a total export loss equal to almost 1.4
billion bushels or almost 172.7 million bushels per year. The value of that loss
was determined, then compared to total wheat export promotion cost to calculate
a series of benefit-to-cost ratios (BCR). The producer BCR from the total
promotion cost averaged 11.5 to 1. Because producers contributed about half the
total in checkoff dollars and in-kind support, the BCR for their half of the
spending averaged about 23 to 1.
“Our organization is accountable to wheat producers and other taxpayers who fund
the market development work we do,” USW President Alan Tracy said. “Dr. Kaiser’s
research methods are well respected, so we are very confident about the analysis
and very pleased with the results.” Tracy said the findings were similar to
results from a study USW commissioned five years ago showing that wheat exports
would decline by 28 percent with no promotion investment, and to a study FAS
conducted in 2006.
USW will use additional results from the study to help plan and manage its
future activities. The organization has posted full study results on its Web
site,
www.uswheat.org.
U.S. Wheat Associates is the industry’s market development organization working
in more than 100 countries on behalf of America's wheat producers. The
activities of USW are made possible by producer checkoff dollars managed by 19
state wheat commissions, in-kind support, and cost-share funding provided by
USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service. To qualify for federal funds, USW is
required to prepare and submit an annual, comprehensive Unified Export Strategy
that details specific market development plans for every country and region. For
more information, visit
www.uswheat.org or contact your state
wheat commission.
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