The value of 2022 agricultural exports beat the record set in 2021, but some volumes declined.

The U.S. exported a record of about $196 billion worth of agricultural commodities in the 2022 calendar year, an 11% increase from 2021, according to new data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

“We’re strengthening relationships with our trading partners and holding those partners accountable for their commitments,” U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said. “We’re making historic investments in infrastructure to strengthen supply chains and prevent market disruptions. We’re knocking down trade barriers that hamper U.S. producers’ access to key markets. And we’re continuing to invest in export market development programs, partnering with industry to bring high-quality, cost-competitive U.S. products to consumers around the world.”

The value of sales increased in all of the United States’ top 10 agricultural export markets–China, Mexico, Canada, Japan, the European Union, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines, Colombia and Vietnam. And sales in seven of the 10 markets (China, Mexico, Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, the Philippines and Colombia) set new records.

The top commodities exported by the United States in 2022 were soybeans, corn, beef, dairy, cotton and tree nuts, which together comprised more than half of U.S. agricultural export value.

International sales of many U.S. products–including soybeans, cotton, dairy, beef, ethanol, poultry, soybean meal, distilled spirits and distillers’ grains–reached record values.

“While we remain committed to our established customer base around the world, we are also setting our sights on new growth opportunities in places like Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Overall, there were 30 markets where U.S. exports exceeded $1 billion in 2022 – an increase from 27 markets in 2021–demonstrating the broad global appeal of American-grown products,” Vilsack said.

The past year represented a record for the value of U.S. agricultural exports. Veronica Nigh, American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) senior economist, explains the final trade data for 2022.

“When the 2021 values came out, we were all super excited and wondered if we could ever top that. But in 2022, U.S. ag exports blew previous records out of the water,” she said. “We reached over $196 billion in U.S. ag exports in 2022, which is an increase by value of 11%. Now, the story changes a little bit when we go to the volume side, we’ve actually saw a decrease of 6% by volume.”

Nigh noted there were some distinct differences between commodities.

“In soybeans, we saw that 26% increase in value, but by volume, exports only increased by 8%,” Nigh said. “Now for some products like rice, we saw a 27% decline in export volumes. Corn had an export volume reduction of 16%, and wheat, because of those high prices around the world, a decline in volume of 13%.”

Nigh added trade increased faster to developing countries than developed countries.

“In 2022, the trend of the U.S. having faster increases in sales to developing countries continued,” Nigh said. “So, relative to 2021, we had an increase of over 12% in U.S. ag exports by value to developing countries. Meanwhile, our exports to developed countries also increased but at a slower pace of 9%.”