Bart Kenner

The USDA is out with the latest trade data for the current fiscal year.  Agriculture Department economist Bart Kenner takes a look at the latest export and import projections from October to January.   “Agricultural exports for fiscal year to date were $64 billion, up 2% from the previous year," he noted.  "Agricultural impo...

The margin between U.S. Ag exports and imports in the 1st 11 months of 2024, USDA economist Bart Ketter said the January Ag export forecast covering January through November of last year, shows.   “Total agricultural exports for $159.8 billion,...

One of the most difficult jobs that analysts at the Agriculture Department have is periodically trying to forecast US agricultural imports and exports.  USDA economist Bart Kenner said developing an accurate forecast is very challenging since so many different things can impact trade.   “...

While the dollar value of U.S. food and Ag exports is falling.  “The import value has increased steadily over time and continues to do so,” said USDA economist Bart Kenner.  He added Ag exports are running about 3% below last year at this time, while the value of foreign agricultural products coming into the U.S. is up by 5%.  He said there ...

We now have the complete U.S. Ag trade numbers for the first nine months of this fiscal year October through June and the central theme running through it all.   “The continued cooling of U.S export values, which is really tied to the bulk commodities," said USDA economist Bart Kenner.   His la...

U.S. agriculture is currently running a trade deficit of almost $19 billion and growing.  And while some say this reflects a weak noncompetitive American farm sector, one expert says that doesn’t tell the whole story.   “To look at the trade balance and say it's negative, so we're being outcompeted. It's, it's really oversim...

The USDA is out with the final Ag trade numbers from December, closing the books on 2022.  USDA’s Bart Kenner said December was a record December for exports $17 billion worth of sales.  He said that puts calendar year 2022 export sales at a record high $196 billion beating 2021's record by $20 billion, but he noted, “most of the gains in exports came from unit value increases from higher prices a

It was January 15th, 2020 when the U.S. and China signed the Phase One Trade agreement, which the Trump Administration said tore down major market barriers for American food and Ag exports.  The long-term hope was China would committee to buying even larger amounts of U.S. produc...

The fiscal year for agricultural exports starts October 1st of every year, and when you look back in October of 2021, which kicked off the 2022 fiscal year, things started with record high October exports $17.7 billion.   But what about this past October which launched FY23?  ...

There are a lot of things you can say about high commodity prices.  They make export values look really good, but sometimes those high prices can reduce the actual amount of product that overseas buyers are willing, or able to buy from American producers.  Th...