Ag exports

The Department of Labor recently announced a final rule to amend H-2A temporary labor certification regulations. but not everyone is happy.

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.

The value of all U.S. exports has grown at an average annual rate of 6% since 2002 and reached a record high of $1.4 trillion in fiscal year 2021.

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.

The Army Corps of Engineers is investing over $829 million for modernizing locks and dams on the Mississippi River.

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.

Trade tensions thawed slightly last week after China decided to exclude U.S. soybeans and pork from additional tariffs.

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.