ly; and small farm organizations as well. There is also an FAS program promoting agricultural exports, including grains, and it is a third important organization which connects (potentially), all producers with foreign markets. The Foreign Market Development Cooperator Program (FMD), also known as the Cooperator program, is administered by the Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The goal of the program is to develop, maintain, and expand long-term export markets for U.S. agricultural products. Finally, as J.T. Smith points out in an article on one of Glickman's (1998) conflicts with the Europeans, American agricultural producers usually have the full support of the American government. Glickman was willing to take on the European community as a whole when it subsidized barley production in Europe to the detriment of American barley producers. There was no question that American farmers were placed at a serious disadvantage when unable to compete, in terms of price, with Europeans barley producers whose product prices were clearly influenced by the subsidies. The weight of the American government was thrown against the European community in an effort to maintain treaties (GATT),and to protect American grain producers. IV. American AdvantagesAmerican agricultural cooperatives have the financial capability of tapping into the seemingly fathomless well of American technology and agricultural science. This is not small point in reference to grain exports. As will be shown in the conclusion, the profitability of grain production depends partly on the ability to expand markets which in turn requires an increased land yield, and usually an increase in product quality )or at least a change which is seen as favorable by the market). McGraw, Comis, Barry, and Hardin are unabashedly pro-American in their report on technological achievements in grain quality and production. However, their report is not ...
