U.S. farm exports are headed for a record $152.5 billion in the fiscal year ending on Sept 30, says the Agriculture Department. In a quarterly report, USDA said strong sales of corn, sorghum, soybeans and cotton prompted a $3 billion increase in the sales forecast for fiscal 2014. Exports of soybeans and soymeal would set records. Exports are an important component of the farm economy. They generate around 25 cents of each $1 in cash receipts.
The export outlook is not quite as rosy for fiscal 2015. USDA forecasts a 5 percent drop in the dollar value of exports, due mainly to lower commodity prices. Still, the $144.5 billion that is forecast would be the second-highest total.
Horticultural exports – fruit, vegetable and tree nuts – would be worth a record $37 billion and, for the first time, would exceed the value of grain and feed product exports in the new fiscal year, said USDA. Grain and feed products would slump to $31 billion, due to lower prices and smaller tonnage. Big crops worldwide will limit U.S. exports.
China is expected to hold its place as the No 1 customer for U.S. farm goods, although this year’s $28 billion in sales would drop by 11 percent, to $25 billion in 2015. “Soybeans account for about 60 percent of exports to China,’ said USDA. Canada and Mexico again would be the No 2 and No 3 markets with combined purchases of $40.2 billion.
Russia is forecast to buy a mere $400 million of U.S. ag exports in the new fiscal year, a drop of $800 million “as a result of trade restrictions against the United States,” says USDA. Russia would account for 0.3 percent of U.S. farm exports in fiscal 2015, compared to 0.8 percent this year.