Up, up and away

摘要

California agricultural exports paced the nation by shooting up nearly 10 percent last year -- with nuts leading the way. If you listened to the drumbeat (downbeat?) coming from all the agricultural economists these days, you'd swear that if it weren't for bad news, there wouldn't be any news at all. But you'd be wrong. A recent report from USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) states that California not only remains the largest ag exporting state, it boosted 2001 exports more than 700 million dollar, or 9 percent over the previous year, to 8.7 billion dollar. So not only does the state leave Texas in the dust at a distant #2 with 3.2 billion dollar, it showed the largest total increase, at 717 million dollar. "Much of the gain was in tree nuts,for which U.S. production rose 15 percent in 2001," states Carol Whitton of the ERS. "California accounted for 92 percent of U.S. tree nut production in 2001." The performance by the state's fruit industry as a whole wasn't too shabby either, with totalexports up about 80 million dollar, or 5 percent, to 1.8 billion dollar. That's fully more than half of the nation's total of 3.5 billion dollar. Washington placed second at 593 million dollar, with Florida at 528 million dollar; Oregon at 101 million dollar; and Michigan at 79 million dollar placing three through five. Rounding out the top 10 were New York, Hawaii, Texas, Arizona, and Maine. California's overall performance is particularly remarkable when compared to that of other states. The Golden State posted its highest figure over the past five years, while other states, especially those located in the grain belt that receive huge subsidies, are down in recent years.