U.S. ag exports forecast to reach $134b in 2017

The United States agricultural industry is expected to reach a trade surplus of $21.5 billion next year, up about 30 percent from the projected $16.6 billion surplus in 2016, according to recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.    The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) expects the nation’s agricultural exports to reach $134 billion in 2017, an increase of $4.3 billion over the current year’s forecast.
   “Since 2009, the United States has exported more than $1 trillion in agricultural products, far more than any other period in our history, thanks to the productivity and ingenuity of American farmers and ranchers, aided in part by the work of USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service to arrange and support trade missions and of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to break down trade barriers,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement on Wednesday.
   U.S. agriculture is once again forecast to reach a trade surplus of $21.5 billion next year, up about 30 percent from the projected $16.6 billion surplus in 2016.
   “The expected volume of 2017 exports is noteworthy, with bulk commodity exports expected to surpass last year’s record levels–led by soybeans at a record 55.8 million metric tons, and corn, up 11 percent from last year, to 56.5 million metric tons,” Vilsack said. “The volume of cotton exports is expected to begin recovering and most livestock and poultry products should see moderate increases in export volume as well.”