American Agriculture Reaches Highest Annual Export Levels Ever Recorded

In case you forgot, American agriculture is a powerhouse. Here’s your reminder:

Final calendar year 2021 trade data published by the Department of Commerce earlier this month shows that the American agricultural industry reached its highest annual export value ever recorded in history.

Exports of U.S. farm and food products to the world totaled $177 billion, topping the 2020 total by 18 percent and eclipsing the previous record, set in 2014, by 14.6 percent.

The United States’ top ten export markets all saw gains in 2021, with six of the ten – China, Mexico, Canada, South Korea, the Philippines and Colombia – setting new records.

U.S. corn exports reached the highest volume since at ‎least 1967, by beating the previous corn export record set in 2018.

Illinois, the nation’s top corn exporting state, shipped over a billion bushels of corn out of state in 2021 – most of it destined for overseas markets.