Why Do Agricultural Exports Matter to U.S. Farmers and the U.S. Economy?

Exports constitute a significant market for U.S. farm and food products that send ripples of activity through the U.S. economy. 

For instance, grain exports first generate economic activity on the farm through input purchases such as fuel and fertilizer, spurring additional economic activity in the manufacturing, trade, and transportation sectors. Then entering grain into the export market requires data processing, financial, legal, managerial, and administrative services. 

This additional economic activity is estimated annually by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) using an Agricultural Trade Multiplier that measures the employment and output effects of trade in farm and food products on the U.S. economy. In 2022, U.S. agricultural exports valued at $197.4 billion had generated an additional $214.6 billion in economic activity, for a total of $412.0 billion in economic output. This means that, on average, every $1.00 of U.S. agricultural products exported generated a total of $2.09 of domestic economic activity. The services, trade, and transportation sector benefited the most from agricultural exports, generating an estimated $73.6 billion worth of additional economic activity. On the farm, agricultural exports supported an additional $70.4 billion of business activity beyond the value of the agricultural exports themselves.

Learn more at: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/agricultural-trade-multipliers