The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is an agency of the

United States Department of Agriculture The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is an executive department of the United States federal government that aims to meet the needs of commercial farming and livestock food production, promotes agricultural trade and producti ...

; it maintains programs in five

commodity In economics, a commodity is an economic goods, good, usually a resource, that specifically has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the Market (economics), market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to w ...

areas:

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

;

dairy A dairy is a place where milk is stored and where butter, cheese, and other dairy products are made, or a place where those products are sold. It may be a room, a building, or a larger establishment. In the United States, the word may also des ...

;

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

and

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

;

livestock Livestock are the Domestication, domesticated animals that are raised in an Agriculture, agricultural setting to provide labour and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, Egg as food, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The t ...

and

seed In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...

; and

poultry Poultry () are domesticated birds kept by humans for the purpose of harvesting animal products such as meat, Eggs as food, eggs or feathers. The practice of animal husbandry, raising poultry is known as poultry farming. These birds are most typ ...

. These programs provide testing, standardization, grading and market news services for those commodities, and oversee marketing agreements and orders, administer research and promotion programs, and purchase commodities for federal food programs. The AMS enforces certain federal laws such as the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act and the Federal Seed Act. The AMS budget is $1.2 billion. It is headquartered in the Jamie L. Whitten Building in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

As of July 2021, AMS is led by Administrator Bruce Summers.

History

Established in 1939 by Agriculture Secretary Henry A. Wallace (later

Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

) through the merging and consolidation of various

(USDA) bureaus and programs, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) was tasked with facilitating fair and efficient

marketing Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of Business administration, business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or ma ...

of American agricultural products, including food, fiber, and specialty crops both domestically and internationally. Most functions of the new Service were later consolidated into the Agricultural Marketing Administration in 1942 before being shifted again several times in the 1940s and 1950s. The agency was once renamed back into the AMS from 1953 to 1965 before becoming the Consumer and Marketing Service. In April 1972, the current structure of the AMS was officially established under the Department of Agriculture. AMS also began enforcing parts of the 1990 Organic Foods Production Act. Over the decades, AMS grew to also support ranchers, importers, exporters, and other agriculture industry groups. In 2017, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue shifted several USDA offices, such as the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) and several program areas from the Farm Service Agency (FSA), into the Agricultural Marketing Service with the goal of better providing for farmers, ranchers, and producers while improving

customer service Customer service is the assistance and advice provided by a company to those who buy or use its products or services, either in person or remotely. Customer service is often practiced in a way that reflects the strategies and values of a firm, and ...

and efficiency.

Mission

AMS' primary function is to market American agricultural products inside and outside the United States. In addition to this, AMS also funds, administers, and supports

agricultural research Agricultural science (or agriscience for short) is a broad multidisciplinary field of biology that encompasses the parts of exact, natural, economic and social sciences that are used in the practice and understanding of agriculture. Professiona ...

; grades and certifies the

safety Safety is the state of being protected from harm or other danger. Safety can also refer to the control of recognized hazards in order to achieve an acceptable level of risk. Meanings The word 'safety' entered the English language in the 1 ...

of agricultural products; and disseminates information and expertise in the agriculture and agriculture marking industries. The Livestock and Poultry Program (L&P) supports federal food and nutrition programs like the National School Lunch Program (NSLP). AMS also enforces the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act (PACA), Federal Seed Act, Organic Foods Production Act, and Packers and Stockyards Act. The Warehouse and Commodity Management Division of the Fair Trade Practices Program administer
United States Warehouse Act
and

Commodity Credit Corporation The Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) is a wholly owned United States government corporation that was created in 1933 to "stabilize, support, and protect farm income and prices" (federally chartered by the CCC Charter Act of 1948 (P.L. 80-806) ...

storage agreements.

Organization

AMS is led by an administrator assisted by an associate and deputy associate administrator. Currently, these individuals are Administrator Bruce Summers, Associate Administrator Erin Morris, and Deputy Associate Administrator Lorenzo Tribbett, all longtime AMS employees. Additionally, the Cotton and Tobacco Program is led by a Deputy Administrator and several Associate Deputy Administrators. Structurally, AMS is headed by the Office of the Administrator; below the Administrator are the Legislative and Regulatory Review Staff, Public Affairs Staff, Civil Rights Staff (within the Office of Civil Rights), and Administrative Management Staff. Beyond that, the AMS is divided into nine programs and one service which are further subdivided into divisions and staffs. AMS' nine programs are: * Dairy Program * Specialty Crops Program * Fair Trade Practices Program ** Food Disclosure and Labeling Division (FDLD) ** Packers and Stockyards Division (PSD) ** Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act Division (PACA) ** Warehouse and Commodity Management Division (WCMD) *

National Organic Program The National Organic Program (NOP) is the federal regulatory framework in the United States, United States of America governing organic food. It is also the name of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service ...

(NOP) * Cotton and Tobacco Program (C&T) ** Grading Division ** Standardization and Engineering Division **

Quality Assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

Division ** Market News Division ** Research and Promotion Division ** MRP Laboratory and Scientific IT Support Division ** Administrative Staff * Livestock and Poultry Program (L&P) * Transportation and Marketing Program ** Transportation Services Division ** Grants Division ** Marketing Services Division ** USDA Farmers Market * Science and Technology Program (S&T) ** Laboratory Approval and Testing Division (LATD) ** Monitoring Programs Division (MPD) ** Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) ** Seed Regulatory and Testing Division (SRTD) * Commodity Procurement Program (CP) The lone service of AMS is: * Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) Additionally, AMS receives input and counsel from the Advisory Committee on Universal Cotton Standards, Fruit & Vegetable Industry Advisory Committee (FVIAC), Grain Inspection Advisory Committee,

National Organic Standards Board The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is an advisory board that makes recommendations to the United States Secretary of Agriculture on organic food and products. Members are appointed by the Secretary and these make recommendations, one of the ...

(NOSB), and Plant Variety Protection Board.

Programs

The AMS

(NOP) develops, implements, and administers national production, handling, and labeling standards for organic agricultural products. The NOP also accredits the certifying agents (foreign and domestic) who inspect organic production and handling operations to certify that they meet USDA standards. BruceSummers

The AMS Science and Technology Program provides scientific support services to the agricultural community and AMS programs, including laboratory analyses,

laboratory A laboratory (; ; colloquially lab) is a facility that provides controlled conditions in which scientific or technological research, experiments, and measurement may be performed. Laboratories are found in a variety of settings such as schools ...

quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to assure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

, and coordination of

scientific research The scientific method is an empirical method for acquiring knowledge that has been referred to while doing science since at least the 17th century. Historically, it was developed through the centuries from the ancient and medieval world. The ...

conducted by other agencies for AMS. In addition, the program's Plant Variety Protection Office administers the Plant Variety Protection Act, by issuing Certificates of Protection for new varieties of plants which are sexually reproduced (by seed) or tuber-propagated. The program also conducts a program to collect and analyze data about

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are used to control pests. They include herbicides, insecticides, nematicides, fungicides, and many others (see table). The most common of these are herbicides, which account for approximately 50% of all p ...

residue levels in agricultural commodities. It also administers the Pesticide Recordkeeping program, which requires all certified private applicators of federally restricted-use pesticide to maintain records of all applications. The records will be put into a data base to help analyze agricultural pesticide use. The AMS Transportation and Marketing Program supplies research and technical information regarding the nation's food transportation system to producers, producer groups, shippers, exporters, rural communities, carriers, government agencies and universities. The program also administers a program involving financial grants to States for marketing improvements. In addition, the division assists in the planning and design of marketing facilities, processes, and methods in cooperation with state and local governments, universities, farmer groups, and other segments of the U.S. food industry. This program is intended to enhance the overall effectiveness of the food marketing system, provide better quality products to the consumer at reasonable cost, improve market access for growers with farms of small to medium size, and promote regional economic development. The Commodity Procurement Program purchases a variety of domestically produced and processed commodity food products to support American agriculture by encouraging the consumption of domestic foods. The program also manages the Web-Based Supply Chain Management (WBSCM), a fully integrated, web-based ordering and procurement system used for the purchase of USDA Foods. Foods purchased by the program are delivered to schools, food banks, and households in communities across the country as a component of our nation’s food safety net.The program's International Commodity Procurement Division, purchases and delivers US-produced food aid commodities to vulnerable populations in foreign countries. The Dairy Program facilitates the efficient marketing of milk and dairy products. Key program activities include: * Administering Federal Milk Marketing Orders and providing aggregated Federal Order Statistics. * Helping the industry market U.S. dairy products worldwide by providing international programs and services, including export certification services. * Providing buyers and sellers with an impartial evaluation of dairy equipment and product quality so businesses and consumers can buy with confidence through the Dairy Grading Program. * Developing dairy grade standards used in the grading appraisal process. * Providing timely and accurate market information on milk and dairy products through the Dairy Market News and Dairy Product Mandatory Reporting Program. * Developing Dairy Economic Analysis for multiple Dairy Program, industry, and USDA needs. * Overseeing The Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Program and the Dairy Research and Promotion Program. * Providing information to assist dairy businesses in the production and processing of milk and dairy products * Administering the Pandemic Market Volatility Assistance Program by reimbursing qualified dairy farmers for 80 percent of the revenue difference per month based on an annual production of up to 5 million pounds of milk marketed and on fluid milk sales from July through December 2020. * Administering the Milk Donation Reimbursement Program by reimbursing milk processors for expenses related to donating milk to eligible distributing organizations, thereby reducing food waste and providing nutrition assistance to low-income individuals The AMS administers the

commodity checkoff program In the United States, a commodity checkoff program promotes and provides research and information for a particular agricultural commodity without reference to specific producers or brands. It collects funds through a checkoff mechanism that is ...

References

External links

Agricultural Marketing ServiceAgricultural Marketing Service
in the

Federal Register The ''Federal Register'' (FR or sometimes Fed. Reg.) is the government gazette, official journal of the federal government of the United States that contains government agency rules, proposed rules, and public notices. It is published every wee ...