Abstract 

Iowa and Texas now rank second and third, respectively, among U.S. agricultural 

exporting States after California, as fiscal 2003 U.S. agricultural exports expanded. 

Exports of soybeans, cotton, wheat, live animals and meat, and tree nuts grew. Higher 

prices, strong growth, and a weaker U.S. dollar relative to competitor currencies 

contributed to export gains. Iowa ranked first in soybean exports; both Iowa and Texas 

had strong livestock exports. 

Keywords: U.S. exports by State, commodity groups, fiscal years, value. 

U .S . agricultural exports by com m odity group

0.0

10.0

20.0

30.0

40.0

50.0

60.0

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003

Fiscal years

Billion dollars

O ther

Cotton

Fruits & nuts

Anim al

products

O ilseeds &

prod.

Food grains

Feed grains &

fodder

Sources: U .S. Departm ent of Agriculture and Bureau of Census, U .S. Departm ent of C om m erce.

Iowa and Texas Rose Among 

U.S. Agricultural Exporting 

States in Fiscal 2003 

Carol Whitton 

FAU-90-01 

June 2004
2 Economic Research Service, USDA 

Weakening U.S. Dollar Boosts Exports 

Fiscal 2003 U.S. agricultural exports increased in part 

due to a weakening of the U.S. dollar against 

competitor currencies, making U.S. agricultural 

exports more competitive. In addition, economic 

growth began to recover from the stagnation of 2001 

and 2002, boosting global demand. And prices of 

some commodities, particularly cotton and wheat, 

rose. 

Soybeans and products remained the largest U.S. 

export, as demand rose, particularly in China. Prices 

also increased slightly. Soybean exports increased 

$955 million to $8.3 billion compared with $7.3 

billion in 2002. 

Cotton exports rose $675 million to $2.7 billion in 

2003, the second largest commodity expansion. 

Much of the gain in cotton exports reflected rising 

prices, which were up an average of 20 percent yearto-year. Expanding demand, particularly in China, 

also was important. 

The third largest growth occurred in U.S. exports of 

wheat and products, up $533 million to $5.3 billion in 

2003. Rising wheat prices contributed to the increase 

in export value. Demand expanded in Ethiopia for 

wheat aid, as well as in Mexico and Venezuela, which 

take commercial wheat. Expanded export of wheat 

products was primarily to Canada. 

Demand for U.S. exports of live animals and meat 

reached $6.5 billion, up $385 million over 2002. 

Indonesia, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan accounted 

for most of the growth in red meat demand. 

Poultry and product exports suffered the largest 

decline, $175 million, as exports to Russia fell. Some 

growth in exports to Latin America and the Middle 

East failed to offset the decline. 

California Remains the Top Ranked Export 

State 

California easily outranks all other States in U.S. 

agricultural exports. California is estimated to have 

exported $8.2 billion in agricultural products in fiscal 

2003, a gain of 16 percent or $502 million, the second 

largest growth of all States. The State leads the 

Nation in export of fruits and vegetables and 

products, tree nuts, dairy products, seeds, and other 

products. California’s other product exports consist 

primarily of wine, essential oils, and nursery and 

greenhouse products. The State accounts for nearly 

50 percent of all U.S. vegetable exports, more than 50 

percent of all U.S. fruit exports, and 93 percent of 

U.S. tree nut exports. The State’s exports of each of 

these products rose in 2003 over 2002. 

However, Iowa, the second-ranked U.S. exporting 

State, showed the strongest growth in 2003 over 2002. 

Its agricultural exports rose $547 million to $3.6 

billion. Soybeans accounted for most of Iowa’s 

growth, as both demand and prices increased. Iowa 

continued to lead U.S. exports of soybeans and 

products, as well as feed grains and products, the two 

largest U.S. agricultural export groups. The State 

accounts for 18 and 19 percent, respectively, of total 

U.S. exports of these products. 

Texas’ agricultural exports increased by $109 million 

in 2003, pushing the State from the sixth ranked 

agricultural exporting State in 2002 to third ranked in 

2003. Because Texas leads U.S. exports of cotton and 

cottonseed and products, its export gains reflected 

higher cotton prices in 2003. But the State also ranks 

second or third in exports of live animals and meats, 

feeds and fodders, hides and skins, tree nuts, and 

animal fats, all of which showed export growth in 

2003. Estimated agricultural exports from Texas 

were $3.4 billion. 

Also with $3.4 billion in agricultural exports in 2003, 

Illinois ranked fourth among U.S. exporting States. 

The State’s exports were only fractionally larger than 

in the previous fiscal year, however. Exports of 

soybeans and products rose sharply and the State 

continued as the second-largest exporter of soybeans. 

But feed grain exports, Illinois’ other large export 

commodity, shrank somewhat in 2003 from 2002. 

Illinois accounted for 17 and 15 percent, respectively, 

of these two largest U.S. agricultural exports. 

Nebraska and Kansas are fifth and sixth among U.S. 

exporting States in 2003, with $3 billion in 

agricultural exports each. Nebraska benefited from 

gains in livestock exports because it leads all States in 

export of live animals and meat, hides and skins, and 

animal fats. Kansas benefited from higher wheat 

prices, as its wheat exports led the United States. 

Kansas also led U.S. exports of feeds and fodders in 

2003. 

Iowa’s Exports Benefited From Increased Demand for Soybeans 
3 Economic Research Service, USDA 

As was the case in 2002, Minnesota, Washington, 

North Dakota, and Indiana filled out the remainder of 

the top-10 U.S. agricultural exporting States. 

However, the order varied slightly in 2003, with 

Washington moving ahead of North Dakota in rank. 

These four States rank high for several agricultural 

exports. 

Minnesota is third after Iowa and Illinois in exports of 

soybeans and feed grains and products. But unlike 

other States, Minnesota’s feed grain and product 

exports rose in 2003 over 2002, along with gains in 

soybeans exports. The State also exports sizeable 

quantities of dairy products and sunflowerseed. 

Washington State is a large exporter of vegetables, 

fruits, and wheat. The State ranked second in exports 

of vegetables, after California, and third in fruit 

exports in 2003 after California and Florida. State 

exports of wheat and fruit rose in 2003, but its exports 

of vegetables declined. 

North Dakota ranked second, after Kansas, in U.S. 

wheat exports. Higher wheat prices in 2003 helped 

boost the value of the State’s wheat exports in 2003. 

North Dakota also is the leading producer and 

exporter of sunflowerseeds in the United States and 

accounted for much of the overall growth in U.S. 

sunflowerseed exports in 2003. Lower production in 

other major sunflowerseed States, such as South 

Dakota, Kansas, and Colorado, reduced their exports. 

Indiana’s main agricultural exports in 2003 were 

soybeans and products and feed grains and products. 

Indiana’s exports of soybeans benefited from rising 

soybean demand, but its exports of feed grains 

contracted slightly compared with 2002. 

The 11th through 20th ranked agricultural exporting 

States are Wisconsin, Arkansas, North Carolina, 

Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, 

Georgia, and South Dakota. These States are 

important exporters of some of the commodities that 

are exported in smaller amounts. For example, 

Wisconsin ranked a close second to California in 

dairy exports in 2003. This is the first year 

California’s dairy exports exceeded Wisconsin’s. 

Arkansas continued to lead U.S. exports of rice, 

followed by California and Louisiana. North Carolina 

leads in exports of tobacco, followed closely by 

Kentucky. And Georgia remained the leading State 

exporter of poultry and products and of peanuts. 

Florida’s most important export, of course, was citrus 

fruits. The State ranked second only to California in 

overall fruit exports. 

Missouri and Ohio, like other central States, rank high 

among States exporting soybeans and products and 

feed grains and products. Missouri ranked among the 

top-10 in cotton, cottonseed, feeds and fodders, and 

rice exports. 

For full coverage of our estimates of U.S. 

agricultural exports by State, see our web page, 

www.ers.usda.gov/data/stateexports. This site 

also includes links to additional historical data 

tables, expanded methodology, along with this 

article and its two tables. 
4 Economic Research Service, USDA 

Data on the value of U.S. agricultural exports by State 

of production are not part of the U.S. export 

information collected by the U.S. Customs Service. 

Consequently, the Economic Research Service (ERS) 

estimates State agricultural exports using the Custom 

District-level export data compiled by the U.S. 

Census Bureau and the State-level agricultural 

production data supplied by the National Agricultural 

Statistics Service (NASS). Using these 

approximations, a State that is the largest producer of 

an agricultural commodity will also account for the 

largest share of U.S. exports of that commodity. 

Countries of destination for each State’s exports 

cannot be determined. 

U.S. agricultural commodity exports often are 

produced in inland States. From the farm, a 

commodity is sold to a local elevator, which in turn 

may sell it to a larger elevator located at a major 

transportation hub, which then moves the commodity 

to a port. As the commodity passes through several 

States before being exported, the State-of-origin often 

is lost or the product commingled with similar 

product from other States. Frequently, the State from 

which the commodity began its export journey, not 

necessarily the State in which the commodity was 

produced, is reported by the exporter. To more 

accurately reflect the situation for inland agricultural 

producing States, ERS calculates U.S. State 

agricultural exports based on a State’s share of 

production of the exported commodity. 

The underlying crop and livestock production and 

slaughter estimates by State from NASS are publicly 

available at www.usda.gov/nass/. The State’s share 

of production of the commodity is simply applied to 

the U.S. export figure for the commodity to derive 

export value. 

NASS does not provide production statistics for 

processed agricultural products such as pasta. For 

these products, supplemental data from the Census of 

Agriculture, 1997 and the Department of Commerce’s 

Product Summary, 1997 Economic Census, 

Manufacturing, Subject Series have been used to 

refine State export estimates. 

Estimates of U.S. State exports also are made by other 

organizations—Census, MISER, etc. Their estimates 

are based primarily on the Customs data reported at 

the port and compiled by the Census Bureau. 

Consequently, for agricultural commodities, 

compared with ERS’ estimates, those estimates tend 

to inflate the relative exports of port States and 

undercount those of inland States, where farm 

commodities tend to originate. 

Contact Information 

Carol Whitton 202-694-5293 cwhitton@ers.usda.gov

Trade Information 

• State export data are now found at http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/stateexports. 

• Monthly and year-to-date U.S. agricultural trade (FATUS and HTS) data are on the Foreign Agriculture 

Service’s web site http://www.fas.usda.gov/ustrade/. 

• Frequently asked questions and answers and summary FATUS data tables are at 

http://www.ers.usda.gov/data/fatus. 

• For articles and general information about agricultural trade see http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/agtrade. 

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provider and employer.

Methodology 
5 Economic Research Service, USDA 

U.S. agricultural exports, by leading States: Estimated value by commodity group, FY 2003

Commodity group United Leading 10 States, by value

States 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Million dollars

CA IA TX IL NE KS MN WA ND IN

Total 56,186.4 8,210.0 3,637.8 3,427.8 3,363.5 3,041.1 2,969.6 2,637.3 1,912.0 1,767.3 1,622.3

IA IL MN IN NE MO OH SD AR ND

Soybeans and products 8,287.5 1,501.0 1,364.1 928.7 720.0 530.2 511.2 454.2 381.2 290.1 261.0

IA IL MN NE IN KS TX WI MO SD

Feed grains and products 6,731.0 1,298.9 1,003.2 711.1 672.0 435.9 401.9 316.2 266.7 217.4 216.5

NE KS TX IA CO IL MN KY CA WI

Live animals and meat 6,483.0 1,047.9 842.3 756.1 584.1 311.4 270.1 250.4 228.9 218.8 214.6

KS ND WA MT OK TX MN ID OH CA

Wheat and products 5,326.8 756.2 582.3 351.0 311.3 280.3 245.6 227.1 198.4 190.5 165.8

CA WA ID WI MN OR FL MI ND AZ

Vegetables and preparations 4,675.6 2,267.6 438.7 242.5 214.5 192.9 139.0 137.7 121.7 120.6 76.3

CA FL WA OR NY MI TX HI AZ ME

Fruit and preparations 3,545.3 1,898.5 569.0 552.6 107.5 51.2 48.2 40.7 35.7 23.2 20.9

TX CA MS AR GA TN NC LA AZ MO

Cotton and linters 2,726.7 802.8 335.1 305.4 263.4 249.1 129.1 127.2 116.6 99.8 96.3

GA AR NC AL MS TX IN PA VA CA

Poultry and products 2,105.4 226.5 217.5 189.7 181.9 138.4 109.1 102.9 64.2 58.7 56.7

KS TX NM KY WI NE MO ND CO CA

Feeds and fodders 1,998.7 287.6 278.1 134.6 127.2 102.9 73.1 66.5 56.4 50.6 49.7

NE KS TX CO WI CA UT MN PA IL

Hides and skins 1,790.3 372.6 333.2 282.9 129.5 109.7 61.5 53.4 52.1 51.8 48.6

CA GA TX OR NM HI AZ OK LA AL

Tree nuts 1,489.9 1,378.1 20.8 18.5 18.5 16.7 15.0 7.4 4.6 2.8 2.3

CA WI MN ID NY PA WA TX IA OH

Dairy products 1,033.6 224.9 221.5 74.4 55.1 54.5 43.9 39.6 32.7 29.3 24.4

AR CA LA MS TX MO na na na na

Rice 1,021.2 451.7 243.2 134.9 74.1 66.9 50.4 na na na na

NC KY TN VA SC GA na na na na

Tobacco, unmanufactured 998.6 356.0 262.3 82.6 67.7 60.4 57.4 na na na na

CA AZ OR KS FL ND IN TX MS GA

Seeds 813.1 201.3 81.6 50.5 38.1 37.0 35.5 30.3 24.7 20.3 19.6

NE KS TX CO WI IA CA IL PA MN

Animal fats 538.5 115.5 101.2 85.3 36.7 24.8 22.0 19.4 16.9 15.8 15.5

GA TX AL FL NC OK VA SC NM na

Peanuts and products 187.7 84.4 36.7 23.0 15.6 14.5 4.4 4.3 2.6 2.1 na

ND SD KS MN CO NE TX na na na

Sunflowerseed and oil 117.0 81.1 17.2 7.3 4.0 2.4 1.2 1.2 na na na

TX CA MS AR GA TN NC LA AZ MO

Cottonseed and products 102.9 30.9 12.2 11.6 10.4 9.0 4.8 4.5 4.5 3.9 3.6

CA ND IL FL PA WA TX OR OH WI

Other 6,213.9 1,055.6 514.3 461.6 378.0 352.2 307.3 214.2 197.7 143.6 116.1

na = not applicable.

Other = Sugar and tropical products, minor oilseeds, essential oils, beverages other than juice, nursery and greenhouse, wine, and misc. vegetable products.
6 Economic Research Service, USDA 

State agricultural exports: Estimated value, million dollars, FY 1999-2003

FY 1999 FY 2000 FY 2001 FY 2002 FY 2003

United States 49,043.3 50,743.8 52,698.2 53,291.2 56,186.4

California 6,194.7 6,722.3 7,225.8 7,111.6 8,210.0

Iowa 3,005.0 3,080.8 2,956.6 3,135.7 3,637.8

Texas 2,544.3 3,110.8 2,892.5 2,881.3 3,427.8

Illinois 2,917.9 2,969.6 3,107.0 3,254.3 3,363.5

Nebraska 2,744.6 2,905.5 2,771.4 3,020.4 3,041.1

Kansas 2,938.4 3,162.1 2,953.2 3,017.9 2,969.6

Minnesota 2,290.9 2,239.6 2,299.5 2,166.9 2,637.3

Washington 1,732.5 1,569.3 1,836.2 1,794.3 1,912.0

North Dakota 1,614.8 1,280.4 1,735.0 2,031.9 1,767.3

Indiana 1,459.2 1,447.0 1,592.8 1,750.7 1,622.3

Wisconsin 1,363.0 1,435.6 1,504.5 1,453.0 1,583.6

Arkansas 1,191.7 1,239.9 1,187.8 1,212.8 1,434.7

North Carolina 1,321.2 1,287.3 1,430.5 1,467.9 1,293.7

Florida 1,136.1 1,228.4 1,211.8 1,246.9 1,280.5

Missouri 1,106.2 1,063.6 1,248.5 1,177.8 1,239.0

Ohio 1,259.0 1,150.8 1,264.9 1,287.3 1,170.7

Pennsylvania 884.6 908.8 1,040.7 955.0 1,012.3

Kentucky 895.5 844.0 1,012.5 969.6 981.1

Georgia 822.9 900.5 948.6 1,005.0 963.7

South Dakota 1,062.0 1,064.1 1,078.8 1,038.2 894.3

Idaho 739.2 767.5 788.9 767.6 847.3

Colorado 837.3 944.2 879.7 898.3 843.1

Michigan 750.6 821.0 778.5 720.4 842.4

Mississippi 558.3 617.2 602.8 665.1 778.3

Oregon 673.8 656.0 717.8 683.3 704.5

Tennessee 470.2 490.0 562.1 608.8 648.6

Oklahoma 538.3 537.5 520.9 537.2 586.4

Louisiana 394.1 443.1 417.3 410.7 486.3

Arizona 430.8 457.8 461.1 417.9 476.0

New York 468.8 475.5 491.8 493.6 454.3

Virginia 418.5 446.9 470.6 464.8 435.9

Montana 357.9 356.4 325.9 288.1 400.3

Alabama 370.5 389.7 395.8 415.5 381.4

Utah 129.4 242.9 252.6 246.7 255.8

South Carolina 258.0 265.3 308.7 310.6 248.1

New Mexico 187.3 215.2 238.5 227.6 225.4

Maryland 221.2 222.8 263.9 234.1 204.1

Massachusetts 146.0 164.4 145.9 137.0 167.5

New Jersey 115.8 103.8 121.0 117.2 119.2

Delaware 116.0 113.0 142.7 138.2 118.5

Hawaii 86.5 85.2 81.6 76.9 82.1

Maine 58.5 60.6 61.5 59.2 58.4

Connecticut 105.4 119.1 87.8 69.8 45.7

Wyoming 48.0 59.6 59.9 54.7 44.4

West Virginia 30.5 34.8 42.6 38.4 37.2

Nevada 32.7 36.7 33.4 39.2 31.7

Vermont 19.3 22.4 11.2 10.2 15.1

New Hampshire 7.3 7.7 7.7 6.9 6.6

Rhode Island 4.0 3.2 4.6 4.2 3.0

Alaska 0.8 0.8 0.8 0.9 0.9

Order based on fiscal 2003 rank.

Fiscal years = October 1-September 30.