06/16/05 US has agriculture trade deficit in April

With agricultural imports on the rise and US exports falling it's finally happened, at least for one month, April. BROOKS "We have a trade deficit. The drop in exports was about twice the drop in imports." The result says USDA economist Nora Brooks was an April agriculture trade deficit of 34 million dollars. It's not all bad news because there are some bright spots. Poultry exports are up with half the value going to Latin America, Mexico and Canada. BROOKS "Dairy products are up 50 percent since this time last year. That was mainly from exports of dry powdered milk before Christmas. And on the down side, rice, corn and feed grains are all down almost 20 percent from this time last year." For the fiscal year, October through April, the US still maintains an ag trade surplus of about four and a half billion dollars. That's about half what it was at this time last year. BROOKS "Our agricultural exports are about four percent lower than they were for the same period last year and the imports are running about ten percent higher." As the search for new markets and new trade opportunities continues the experts tell us that the US will maintain an ag surplus but it will drop to about two billion dollars by the end of this fiscal year. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott