USDA will fund a pilot program in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi to train small and minority producers in export marketing. The goal is to train participants on the basics of international marketing to help them identify, research and take advantage of potential export opportunities.

About 30 farmers and members of producer cooperatives, processing firms and other small and minority agricultural businesses will be trained as trainers for several organizations representing small and minority producers in the region. The pilot program is to last two years.

Funding is through the Emerging Markets Program of the Foreign Agricultural Service with additional money from the Southern United States Trade Association and the international Small Business Development Centers in the three states.

"For many small and minority producers, limited local marketing opportunities present perhaps the leading threat to economic survival, especially in isolated or depressed rural communities," said Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman. "Exports can provide the additional sales opportunities that may help them grow and prosper."