Export headwinds

The last few years, Idaho has enjoyed high times as it relates to agricultural exports. Idaho set a record for total value of agricultural exports in 2022 even as total U.S. ag export values declined 10 percent. .According to U.S. Census Bureau data released, $1.18 billion worth of Idaho agricultural products were exported to other countries in 2023. That represents a 4 percent increase over the previous record of $1.13 billion set in 2022. But over the last couple of years, U.S. ag exports have faced some headwinds but have remained above their historical averages and… “We're hoping we're going to have another strong performance with U.S. ag exports this year around the world. Daniel Whitley runs the USDA's Foreign Agricultural Service. He says exports for the first half of the fiscal year, October through March, are at just under $94.4 billion, 6% below the same time frame a year ago. Whitley says one of those headwinds hampering exports is the strong U.S. dollar, which makes our products more expensive for foreign buyers. But Whitley says that's just one factor. The other one is simply supply and demand. “What we've seen is the South American crop rebounding from three straight years of poor weather. They came and had a historical crop like a once in a generation crop, and that crop really competed with what we were doing here. And still is. Speaker1: So U.S. ag exports again, are running 6% down, imports 2% higher than this time a year ago.