Posted June 4, 2014
Agricultural
exports will reach a record high of $149.5 billion in 2014, according to an
article on Southeast Farm Press available here. Reuters also
published an article available here and Farm Futures here.
The Outlook for U.S. Agricultural Trade report states the
growth is a result of rising prices, but will also be from an increase in
volume of U.S. agricultural exports, which is expected to increase by 31
percent over 2013.
It would be a second straight year of
record U.S. agricultural exports, which totaled $140.9 billion last year,
according to Reuters.
Tom Vilsack U. S. Agriculture
Secretary applauded the “increasing global appetite for high-quality,
American-grown product.”
“USDA
will continue to focus its efforts on tapping into new markets for what is
grown and made in rural America. Today, only one percent of U.S. companies
export, and yet 95 percent of the world's consumers live outside the borders of
the United States, creating significant opportunities for U.S. food and
agriculture. Thanks to resources in the 2014 Farm Bill, USDA is able to
continue support for trade promotion and market expansion for U.S. agricultural
products overseas—programs that return $35 in economic benefits for every
dollar invested,” Vilsack said according to Southeast Farm Press.
Vilsack
highlighted recent progress on trade issues with Mexico after a panel
discussion with Mexico's Secretary of Agriculture Enrique Martínez y Martínez
at the Global Forum on Agro Food Expectations in Mexico City, according to Farm Futures.
“Mexico
is an important strategic ally and a critical economic partner to the United
States. In recent months, we have made progress on a number of issues that will
help increase economic opportunity for both of our countries,” Vilsack shared
in a USDA statement.
Funding
additions in the farm bill such as the Market Access Program and the Foreign Market
Development Program, will help expand exports by creating
ad maintaining long-term markets for U.S. agricultural products.
For more information on
international trade, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s
website here.
