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Strategic Objective

Contribute to the Expansion of the Bioeconomy by Supporting Development, Production, and Consumption of Renewable Energy and Biobased Products

Strategic Objective

Themes:

Agriculture

USDA.gov

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Overview
Progress Update

Overview

Expanding the bioeconomy creates economic opportunities and improves the environment. Biomass from farms, forests, and rangelands could supply a significant portion of U.S. transportation fuels, heat, power, and biobased products. Research, development, and demonstration are necessary to realize the potential of biomass resources. USDA efforts in this area will help reduce investor risk, support market development, and contribute to energy security, environmental quality, and economic opportunity. USDA’s efforts will include:

Creating viable engineering, business, and

Progress Update

In 2015, USDA invested $100 million in the Biofuel Infrastructure Partnership (BIP), a partnership between the Government and States and private partners, to install nearly 5,000 pumps offering higher blends of ethanol nationwide. With the matching commitments by State and private entities, the BIP is investing a total of $210 million to nearly double the number of fueling pumps nationwide that supply renewable fuels to American motorists. These investments will help to create new markets for agricultural commodities, support demand and increase prices paid to farmers.

Aso, in FY 2015 USDA investments in renewable energy resulted in 85,937 million kilowatt hours generated in rural America from alternative energy sources including 1,019 kilowatt hours generated through investments from Rural Development’s Rural Business Services programs and 84,918 kilowatt hours generated through investments from Rural Utilities Service programs. In FY 2015 USDA was also on target to procure $10 million in bio-based products.

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Strategic Goals

Strategic Goal:

Assist Rural Communities to Create Prosperity So They Are Self Sustaining, Repopulating, and Economically Thriving

Statement:

Assist Rural Communities to Create Prosperity So They Are Self Sustaining, Repopulating, and Economically Thriving

Strategic Objectives

Enhance Rural Prosperity Including Leveraging Capital Markets to Increase the Government’s Investment in Rural America

Statement:

Enhance Rural Prosperity including leveraging capital markets to increase the government’s investment in rural America

Description:

Prosperous rural communities are those with adequate assets to fully support the well-being of community members. USDA helps to strengthen rural assets by building physical, human and social, financial, and natural capital. To achieve maximum impact, USDA will leverage resources across the Department and beyond; collaborate on cross-agency efforts such as Promise Zones and the White House Rural Council, and support community and tribal efforts to form regional strategies. USDA targets funds through strong analytics, grass roots support, and asset-based strategies. Addressing the needs of economically distressed regions is a top priority; The Strikeforce Initiative coordinates USDA’s rural development, agriculture, and conservation efforts in high poverty communities.

Physical Capital

Through loans, grants, and technical assistance, the Department will provide support for decent housing and homeownership; health care, school, library, and safety investments; and broadband infrastructure in unserved and underserved areas. USDA also supports utility deployment of smart grid, renewable energy, energy efficiency, and carbon capture and storage for maintaining reliable electric systems in rural communities. Construction of electric, telecommunications, and water and waste system infrastructure and of farm storage facilities are also a priority for USDA.

Human and Social Capital

To assist rural residents to find jobs and start small business, USDA will provide educational opportunities, job training programs, and technical support and tools. For youth, USDA promotes non-formal education programs, 4-H, and other youth development programs to transfer knowledge and develop leaders. The Department supports job corps centers and youth corps programs through the America’s Great Outdoors initiative. Human and social capital formation is also assisted by USDA funding and oversight of rigorous agricultural research, education, and extension programs.

Financial Capital

To help build financial capital, USDA will undertake a variety of efforts. The Department will pursue public -private partnerships including by structuring investment in rural communities to attract capital from third-party investors. USDA will participate in marketing efforts to reach national lenders (capital markets) and leverage USDA resources with private capital. USDA programs will provide business and industry development opportunities to develop a local economy and create well-paying jobs. To facilitate strategic decision making to support livable communities, USDA will provide economic analyses and promote successful economic development models. USDA will also provide equitable access to capital for rural minority farmers and business owners and target outreach to underserved and minority populations.

Natural Capital

Clean air, clean water, productive farmlands, and outdoor recreation opportunities result from USDA’s efforts working with partners and producers in our national forests and on working lands. Goal 2 of this strategic plan provides a detailed look at USDA’s contributions to natural capital.

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Increase Agricultural Opportunities by Ensuring a Robust Safety Net, Creating New Markets, and Supporting a Competitive Agricultural System

Statement:

Increase Agricultural Opportunities by Ensuring a Robust Safety Net, Creating New Markets, and Supporting a Competitive Agricultural System

Description:

The economic vitality and quality of life in rural America depends on a healthy agricultural production system. Farmers and ranchers face a challenging global, technologically advanced, and competitive business environment. USDA works to ensure that producers are prosperous and competitive, have access to new markets, can manage their risks, and receive support in times of economic distress or weather-related disasters.

Strengthen the Farm Financial Safety Net

The Department strives to provide producers with prompt and equitable disaster assistance, income support payments, marketing assistance loans, farm loans, and risk management tools. USDA partners with commercial lenders to guarantee farm ownership and operating loans and makes direct loans to producers to purchase property or finance farm operating expenses. USDA's loan programs are available to producers who are temporarily unable to obtain financing commercially. The Federal Crop Insurance Program mitigates production and revenue losses from yield or price fluctuations and provides timely indemnity payments.

To further strengthen the farm financial safety net, USDA will:

Improve partnerships with other agricultural lenders to better leverage limited funding resources;
Expand crop insurance availability and product coverage, especially for livestock, pasture, rangeland, forage, organic, and specialty crops;
Use geographical information systems (GIS), remote sensing, precision agriculture, and data mining to improve crop insurance products and program integrity;
Provide timely disaster relief to producers using available programs, use GIS to assess damage rapidly, and partner with other agencies on disaster relief outreach and;
Expand outreach for farm storage facility loans to biomass, fruit, and vegetable producers.

Facilitate Access to International Markets

USDA expands and protects international market opportunities and connects agricultural exporters to customers. The Department works to strengthen the global rules-based trading system and supports development of international standards to facilitate safe trade. Cooperative efforts with other U.S. Government agencies and industries ensure that America’s producers have fair market access, understanding of key market trends, and support to overcome market barriers. To address the threats to international trade posed by high-consequence animal and plant pests and pathogens, USDA supports research, education, and extension programs, and networked regulatory, surveillance, and rapid response capabilities.

USDA works with exporters, importers, and other end-users of U.S. agricultural products around the world to facilitate sales in global markets. In cooperation with other U.S. government agencies, USDA monitors and investigates discrepancies reported by importing countries on the quality or weight of U.S. grains, oilseeds, and related products.

To further facilitate access to international markets, USDA will:

Stimulate greater involvement by small- and medium-sized enterprises selling U.S. agricultural products;
Negotiate and implement trade agreements and support international equivalency agreements;
Facilitate the overseas marketing efforts of U.S. commodity organizations; and
Reduce technical barriers to trade and eliminate sanitary and phytosanitary barriers not based on sound science.

Support the Development of New Domestic Markets

Accessing domestic markets helps build financial sustainability for producers and provides fresh, local food for consumers. USDA supports the planning, coordination, and education necessary for thriving regional food systems and replication of successful models. USDA will work closely with partners to develop and revitalize infrastructure for regional food systems. This includes innovative new opportunities and proven approaches like cooperatives and farmers markets. USDA analyzes market trends and provides tools to help producers identify opportunities. USDA also oversees national standards for the production and handling of agricultural products labeled as organic. To increase the number of certified organic operations, USDA will support research and education that enables organic production; reduce overlapping requirements; eliminate other obstacles; and collaborate with others to make certification more feasible for small and beginning farmers and business.

Ensure a Financially Sustainable and Competitive Agricultural System

USDA manages farm price support and commodity purchase programs to help balance supply and demand and conducts oversight to protect producers from unfair competition and unfair business practices in the livestock, meat, and poultry markets. Working with the Department of Justice, USDA enforces fair market practices and takes action against anti-competition behavior, to create a level playing field for producers.

The Department ensures efficient marketing of agricultural products through clear and consistent descriptions and measurements of the grade, quality and quantity of products that are bought and sold. By providing current, unbiased statistics, price and sales information USDA assists in the orderly marketing and distribution of farm commodities to inform decision-making by agricultural producers and agribusinesses and to ensure market stability. USDA will ensure that USDA-approved and licensed warehouse programs maintain adequate storage facilities, adequate frequency of warehouse examinations, and reduced product losses. USDA foods will be delivered in a timely manner, within contract specifications, and at competitive prices.

USDA develops and maintains national standards for the production and handling of agricultural products labeled as organic and examines and accredits State and private organic certifying agents. By providing education resources on organics to producers through its field offices, USDA will better serve diverse management systems including organic and specialty crops.

The Department works to ensure that minority, women, beginning, and other socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have full knowledge and access to its programs. USDA also works with producer and farmworker organizations and the U.S. Department of Labor to improve working conditions and income for farmworkers.

Increase the Number of Certified Organic Operations and Expand Programs and Services for Organic Producers
USDA will support research and education that enables organic production; reduce overlapping requirements; and collaborate with others to make certification more feasible for small and beginning farmers and businesses.

Protect the Foundations of the Agricultural System

USDA provides leadership in creating and disseminating knowledge spanning the biological, physical, and social sciences through agricultural research, economic analysis, statistics, and partnerships with Cooperative Extension, and higher education institutions. The Department conducts research, education, and extension programming to reduce the costs of agricultural inputs and to improve crop and animal production efficiency and practices. Research efforts lead to more thorough assessments of Americans’ nutritional needs; new methods for sustaining a competitive agricultural economy; and a better understanding of how to enhance the natural resource base. Research priorities include improving agriculturally important plants and animals, including those resilient to anticipated changes in climate. USDA will use the cooperative extension system to transfer technology and best practices from the laboratory into active use.

In coordination with Federal partners, USDA helps higher-education institutions with undergraduate and graduate programs in agriculture develop strong science, technology, engineering, and math curriculums, and increase enrollment in secondary and two-year post-secondary programs, especially from underrepresented groups. As part of USDA’s science leadership, the Department will continue to provide Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education grants for projects designed to help America’s two million small- and medium scale producers improve their knowledge of sustainable agriculture production and marketing practices [1]

[1] 2007 Census of Agriculture. Small- and medium-sized farms and ranches are less than 1,000 acres.

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Contribute to the Expansion of the Bioeconomy by Supporting Development, Production, and Consumption of Renewable Energy and Biobased Products

Statement:

Contribute to the Expansion of the Bioeconomy by Supporting Development, Production, and Consumption of Renewable Energy and Biobased Products

Description:

Creating viable engineering, business, and financial protocols to evaluate proposed commercial renewable energy and energy efficiency projects;
Developing superior genetic feedstocks and production and logistic systems suited to regional conditions;
Developing advanced biomass crops and methods for their sustainable production as biofuels and other forms of biopower; and
Providing analysis and data about commodity markets for renewable energy sources; and

Support expanding production of advanced biofuels through the financing of the widespread deployment of full-scale commercial facilities;
Support the development of integrated regional systems for the sustainable production of biofuels, biopower, and biobased products;
Integrate renewable energy and biobased product feedstock production into sustainable agriculture, forest, and range management systems; and
Support the establishment and production of annual and non-woody perennial crops and woody biomass crops for conversion to bioenergy and biobased products.

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