Farm Exports Are Creating Jobs and Growing the Rural Economy

Demand for American food and agricultural products abroad has led to the three best consecutive years for U.S. farm exports in the nation’s history, according to Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. “In 2010, President Obama comitted to doubling U.S. exports in five years and just two years later, we are on pace to meet that goal,” said Vilsack. Speaking to business leaders in Iowa, one of the nation’s most productive agricultural economies, Vilsack pointed to the state’s low unemployment rate of 5.1 percent as proof of agriculture’s success story. Last year, Iowa exported a record $7 billion in agricultural products, which supported nearly 60,000 jobs on and off the farm. Learn more.