funding to properly carry out a marketing program and it 

 needs increased authority to eliminate overlapping and 

 duplication of marketing efforts among other agencies. 



It must be pointed out that, without some ' 

 improvement in agricultural marketing, Montana's 

 agricultural markets may be eroded because other states 

 and foreign nations are aggressively marketing their 

 agricultural products to expand their share in the 

 marketplace. 



The state has received a clear indication from the 

 Japanese that this could be a problem for Montana. 

 During a 1985 trade mission to Japan, an official of a 

 large Japanese trading company asked Montanans how they 

 expected to trade with Japanese companies when they 

 visit the country only once every two years and when 

 they make no effort to learn about Japan and its 

 language. The Japanese official said that competition 

 is stiff for business in Japan, and 26 states had 

 conducted trade missions to Japan in the first half of 

 the year. Some of the states maintained offices in 

 Japan to follow up on trade leads. ^° The message should 

 be clear. Montana is at a clear trade disadvantage 

 because it lacks an adequate marketing program. 



Similar Policies and Programs 



A number of states have established programs to 

 promote their state's agricultural products. The clear 

 leader in agricultural market development is Minnesota. 

 In one year, the state's total commitment to export 

 trade, in both the state agriculture and commerce 

 agencies, went from two people and a budget of $176,000 

 to 31 people and a budget of $6.65 million. With this 



48 



