The rest of the economy may fuss about export deficits or
celebrate small successes.
Farm exports, though, are basking in the big win: the 36th year
of surpluses and a 10
percent increase in international sales.

A U.S. Department of Agriculture estimate puts the ag export
dollar value at $60
billion in 1996, more than double since 1985.

“We are the world’s largest exporter of farm
products,” said Bill Mizelle, an
economist with the University of Georgia Extension Service.
“We account for 23
percent of all agricultural trade in the world.”

Agriculture depends on those export dollars for 23 percent of
its gross cash receipts.

“For the overall economy, exports account for 11 percent
of sales,” Mizelle
said. “So agriculture is twice as dependent on exports as
the rest of the
economy.”

The No. 1 buyer is Japan, which spent $10 billion on U.S.
farm products last year.
Sales broke records in other Asian markets, including Korea,
Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.

In fact, China became agriculture’s biggest growth market,
Mizelle said. Sales leaped
175 percent to $2.4 billion.

“We are the most competitive nation in the world in
agricultural products,”
Mizelle said. “We export things we’re good at (like cotton,
peanuts and grains). And
we bring in coffee, bananas and other items.

“Many of our farm imports are either products we don’t
grow or they’re grown when
we’re not in season,” he said. “Trade helps improve
the standard of living of
the overall population. As incomes increase, people can buy even
more.”

The overall picture is positive. But markets for some crops
fluctuate. The Economic
Research Service figures Florida’s fresh winter vegetable market
dropped from 57 percent
in 1991-92 to 36 percent a year ago.

“>Imports of horticultural products from Mexico are
certainly up,” Mizelle
said. “But it’s not directly related to any increased
production for exports (on
Mexico’s part).

“When the peso was devalued, the Mexican domestic
economy collapsed, so consumer
demand was reduced,” he said. “So our products, which
normally would have gone
to them, didn’t get sold. And their products, which would have
been sold there, were
shipped to us.

“We’ve had problems with spring freezes, too,” he
said. “So Mexico has
taken advantage of our market, which added insult to injury for
Florida.”

Georgia agriculture depends on the export market, too.
Although they don’t have exact
figures, Extension economists said many Georgia farm products
are streaming out of the
ports of Savannah and Mobile.

Extension economist Don Shurley said Georgia’s giant cotton
crop goes worldwide. Last
year Georgia grew 2 million bales, 10 percent of the U.S.
crop.

“Nationally we exported 9.4 million bales of the ’94
crop,”Shurley said.
“That was 48 percent of the crop. This year, USDA’s latest
projections are that our
exports will be 7.4 million bales. That’s down 2 million bales
from last year. But it’s
still 41 percent of our total crop.”

The dip in sales is attributed to a rise in world production,
including in China, which
lowered imports of U.S. cotton.

“Many people expect export figures for cotton to be
higher than the USDA’s
estimate,” Shurley said. “China has been a buyer in
recent weeks. We’ve got
commitments for almost 8 million bales, so it’s possible we’ll
do better than that
estimate.”

George Shumaker, an Extension economist in grains, said wheat
exports for the ’95 crop
are strong. He predicts they’ll stay strong for the ’96 crop.
Soybean exports are strong,
too, with estimates slightly up from last year.

“What’s surprising is currently soybeans are worth about
$1.75 a bushel more than
they were the previous year,” Shumaker said. “So even
at higher prices, we’re
still competitive.

Corn exports were up “just a little bit from ’94,” Shumaker
said.”Again, we’re selling more bushels at much higher prices,
which is extremely
positive.”