August 30, 2024
Amanda Forrester / news@whmi.com
Experts say U.S. agriculture is projected to have a trade deficit over $40 billion in 2025, a press release from the Michigan Farm Bureau said.
The 2025 projection of $42.5 billion is a $10.5 billion increase from 2024’s current estimated deficit, the press release said.
Loren Koeman, Michigan Farm Bureau’s lead economist, told WHMI News the deficit is growing due to the increase in U.S. imports of agriculture as opposed to the country exporting. Over the last three years, the U.S. has imported more than it’s exported, and the number continues to grow.
“Especially fruits and vegetables,” Koeman said. “That’s the major import of food right now.”
U.S. exports for fresh produce are expected to grow to $7.6 billion in 2025, but the number of combined imports is predicted to be $33.8 billion, according to the press release.
Mexico is the country the U.S. imports the most food from, the press release said.
A lot of the produce in grocery stores is imported, and it can be difficult to know exactly where everything is coming from, Koeman said.
“There isn’t a good visibility of where a lot of our fruits and vegetables come from,” Koeman said. “We’re importing well over half of them today.”
The issue is not a lack of qualified farmers, experts say. There are many local farmers who have the experience and expertise to be able to grow food to sustain the country. The problem is a combination of things, including government policies and inflation.
“We have farmers that are ready and willing and want to grow the food,” Koeman said. “There’s been a lot of uncertainty lately. One of those things is labor costs.”
Koeman said the pay for seasonal workers who come from other countries to work on U.S. farms has increased significantly over the last few years. The wages for guest workers has increased 20% over the last few years, and experts say it can make it difficult for U.S. farmers to be competitive with international farms who pay their employees less.
While inflation has caused the prices for many products to increase, experts say that the prices that farmers are paid is not one of them. The prices for both exported and produce sold locally has dropped in some cases.
“All costs on the farm have gone up and prices have not gone up with them,” Koeman said. “In some cases they’ve come down. We’re going to have a lot of sectors operating at a loss here in the next year to two years.”
While farmers’ markets are a great way to support local farmers, experts said, it’s important to confirm where the produce is coming from.
“I was at a farmers’ market and saw some asparagus,” Koeman said. “I knew it wasn’t asparagus season in Michigan. I was kind of inspecting it and they asked me what I wanted. I said ‘I was wondering where your asparagus comes from,’ and they told me Peru. So don’t just assume at your local farmers’ market that it’s U.S. grown or Michigan grown product, though a lot of them are.”
The U.S. is able to supply the country with some of the highest-quality produce available, and experts say that supporting local farmers not only helps them, it helps the country as a whole.
“We have some of the safest, highest-quality food right here in the U.S.,” Koeman said. “We know how to grow it. When we grow it here, those dollars stay in the U.S., stay in those communities.”
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Publish date : 2024-08-29 22:18:00
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