USDA is forecasting an agricultural trade deficit in 2023, but while deficits have happened before, the agency has never forecast one in advance until this year.
According to a new report from the USDA’s economic research and foreign agricultural services divisions, farm exports are expected to total $193.5 billion, down $2.5 billion from the final revised forecast for 2023.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages show wage and salary employment in agriculture has been stable the past decade.
While the volume of ag exports is projected to expand from 2021-30, U.S. exports of major crop and livestock commodities are also expected to face stiff competition from other exporters.
Export shipments to China out of Seattle and Tacoma ports fell 32% in 2018. The figures show AG exports out of the Northwest are down 21% THIS YEAR as of the end of March.
A new USDA study finds greenhouse gas emissions from corn-based ethanol are about 39-percent lower than gasoline, and when refined at natural gas-powered refineries.