How much do ag exports contribute to the nation’s economic activity? That’s coming up on This Land of Ours.
A new USDA report says exports constitute a significant market for American farm and food products and send ripples of activity through the nation’s economy. The USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) says America’s agricultural exports, valued at $177.3 billion in 2021, generated an additional $190.5 billion in economic activity. That’s a total of $367.8 billion in overall economic output. On average, that means every $1 of U.S. agricultural products exported generated a total of $2.07 in domestic economic activity.
The services, trade, and transportation sectors benefited the most from agricultural exports, generating an estimated $79.5 billion worth of economic activity. On the farm, agricultural exports supported an additional $43.6 billion in business activity beyond the value of the agricultural exports themselves.
The impact starts at the farm through purchases of inputs like fuel and fertilizer, spurring additional economy in the manufacturing, trade, and transportation sectors, and the impact continues in many other sectors.
Listen to Sabrina Halvorson’s This Land Of Ours program here.
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.