A new USDA report says exports constitute a significant market for American farm and food products and send ripples of activity through the nation’s economy.
The Economic Research Service says America’s agricultural exports, valued at $177.3 billion in 2021, generated an additional $190.5 billion in economic activity. That’s a total of $367.8 billion in overall economic output. On average, that means every $1 of U.S. agricultural products exported generated a total of $2.07 in domestic economic activity. The services, trade, and transportation sectors benefited the most from agricultural exports, generating an estimated $79.5 billion worth of economic activity.
On the farm, agricultural exports supported an additional $43.6 billion in business activity beyond the value of the agricultural exports themselves. The impact starts at the farm through purchases of inputs like fuel and fertilizer, spurring additional economy in the manufacturing, trade, and transportation sectors, and the impact continues in many other sectors.