Mexico chases China for No. 1 export market
Mexico will buy a record $28.4 billion worth of U.S. food and agricultural exports this fiscal year, only $300 million less than China, the first-place customer, forecast the Agriculture Department on Wednesday. China is now buying more corn and soybeans from Brazil and less from the United States.
China failed to speed up ag biotech review process
Despite a pledge in early 2020 to do so, China has not shortened the average time — more than two years — that it takes to decide whether to approve agricultural biotechnology products for import, said the Biden administration in an annual review. The slow-moving process disrupts U.S. farm exports and the commercialization of new strains of corn, soybeans, canola, and alfalfa, said the report from the U.S. trade representative's office (USTR).
U.S. crop sector insulates itself from world market with biofuels, says analyst
After decades of pursuing sales to foreign buyers, the U.S. crop sector is “once again becoming domestic market-focused, due mainly to biofuels policy,” said Scott Irwin, an agricultural economist at the University of Illinois, on Wednesday. It would be a significant, albeit gradual, change in focus.
Brazil to surpass U.S. as cotton exporter in ‘very near future’
Already the world's leading soybean and corn supplier, Brazil is on track to pass the United States and become the largest cotton exporter in the very near future," said the National Cotton Council, an umbrella organization for the U.S. cotton industry.
Record ag trade deficit on course to be halved in five years
The U.S. agricultural trade deficit, forecast at a record $30.5 billion this fiscal year, will narrow in the near term as exchange rates improve and trading partners gain economic strength, said the Agriculture Department in its 10-year agricultural baseline.
How tobacco growing ends in America
In FERN’s latest story, published with The New Republic, reporter Duncan Murrell makes the case for ending the growing of tobacco in the United States.
Stabenow open to reference price proposals, a farm bill obstacle
In a bid to break the farm bill deadlock, Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow said that she was “open to proposals” to increase so-called effective reference prices for all crops in the U.S. farm program but would not accept cuts in SNAP or climate funding. “If we’re going to get a farm bill done this spring to keep farmers farming, it’s time to get serious,” she said in a letter to all senators.
Brazil a stronger U.S. competitor in soybean sales
In the past decade, Brazil has improved its network of roads, railways, and ports, “significantly altering” its competitiveness with the United States in the world soybean market, said an Agriculture Department report on Thursday. Continued improvements would bolster Brazil’s standing as the world’s largest soybean producer and exporter.
Market diversification is path to increased farm exports, say trade officials
U.S. food and ag exports are concentrated in four markets that generate nearly $6 of every $10 in sales, said two senior U.S. ag trade officials on Thursday. To expand sales volume, they said at a trade group meeting, new customers must be developed in countries that have been off the export radar in the past.
Ag exports to dip 5 percent, trade deficit nearly doubles
U.S. farm exports will be the smallest in four years due to lower prices for wheat, corn, and cotton, said the Agriculture Department on Thursday. China would remain the No. 1 customer for food and ag products, with Mexico a close second.
USDA allots $300 million for first year of export program
The government will provide up to $300 million for the first year of a new program to build food and ag export sales in nontraditional markets, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Wednesday. The USDA has committed $1.2 billion over five years for the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP) after the second year in a row of declining ag exports.
USDA eyes non-traditional markets for ag exports
The Agriculture Department will counter a decline in farm exports by seeking sales in new markets, including non-traditional destinations, said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday. Vilsack announced a calendar of six agricultural trade missions for 2024 and the opening of a comment period on how to allot $1.3 billion in the new Regional Agricultural Promotion Program.
Ag trade deficit is a record, but smaller than expected
The United States ran a record agricultural trade deficit of $16.6 billion in the fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, said a USDA database. The deficit was smaller than the forecast of $19 billion but fiscal 2023 was the third deficit in the last five years.
Stabenow sees farm bill passage in 2024, later than hoped
The new farm bill will not enacted until next year because of continuing disagreements over issues such SNAP benefits and higher crop subsidies, said Senate Agriculture Committee chair Debbie Stabenow on Wednesday. “I am committed to passing a strong, bipartisan farm bill as soon as possible,” she said, but the process is taking longer than hoped.
Tap USDA funds to boost food aid and exports, say senators
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack should tap a USDA reserve fund to expand international food aid and export promotion programs, said the leaders of the Senate Agriculture Committee in a letter released on Wednesday.
India removes tariffs on a range of U.S. farm exports
As a sign of partnership, India will remove retaliatory tariffs on U.S. apples, chickpeas, lentils, almonds, and walnuts, said U.S. trade representative Katherine Tai on Thursday, The decision was announced as part of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Washington.
Corn and soy join wheat in U.S. export retreat
Competition from South America will crimp U.S. corn and soybean exports over the summer, according to a forecast by the Agriculture Department in its monthly WASDE report.
U.S. ratchets up corn dispute with Mexico
The Biden administration asked for USMCA consultations with Mexico over its ban on imports of GMO corn for human consumption, the last step before filing a trade complaint in the long-running dispute.