Challenges Ahead: U.S. Agricultural Trade Deficit Hits All-Time High

**After decades of substantial U.S. agricultural trade SURPLUSES, staggering ag trade DEFICITS over the past two years have caught the nation's attention.

For fiscal year 2024, USDA's Economic Research Service estimates there will be a record $32 billion agricultural trade deficit.

American Farm Bureau Federation reports this deficit follows the current record deficit of $16.7 billion set last year … and would be just the fourth ag trade deficit in 50 years.

**The average size of Black or African-American-operated farms reached a record high of 163 acres in 2022.

USDA’s Census of Agriculture data reports Black or African-American producers operated 32,700 farms and ranches covering about 5.3 million acres in 2022.

Since 1997, there has been a gradual increase in the number of acres operated by Black farmers, although it remains below the 41.4 million acres operated in 1920.

**Senator Debbie Stabenow, Chair of the Senate Ag Committee, released a statement after the Congressional Budget Office published its revised 10-year budget projections.

The Michigan Democrat says today’s updated projections from the CBO prove what we’ve been saying all along. The House Republican bill is unpaid for, relying on magic math and wishful thinking.

She says her Rural Prosperity and Food Security Act doesn’t fracture the farm and food coalition, the foundation of every successful farm bill.