The economy in the United States always sees a very large contribution from the country’s agricultural exports, and that was never more true than in 2021. It was in 2021 that the United States saw record high numbers, as the country’s agricultural exports (between farm products and food) totaled $177 billion in sales. This infographic offers a fascinating look at the biggest agricultural export of every U.S. state, along with the export value of each.
According to the data, which comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), many of the Midwestern states saw soybeans as their top exports, with these states including Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Tennessee. Of these 14 states where soybeans were the top export, the highest export values came out of Illinois ($3,623.9 million), Iowa ($3,339 million), Minnesota ($2,109.1 million), Indiana ($2,006.4 millioN) and Nebraska ($1,907.3 million).
Although soybeans are one of the most common top exports among the 50 U.S. states, tree nuts were only proven to be the top export in the state of California, where the highest single state total resulted in an export value of $7,757.9 million. Cotton was the top export in only two U.S. states, with those being Texas (with an export value of $1,702.2 million) and Georgia (with an export value of $797 million).
Montana was the only state in the country that saw wheat as its top export in 2021, with an estimated export value of $787.8 million. Of all 50 states across the country, the smallest export values came out of Nevada ($36.3 million for beef and veal), Rhode Island ($19.7 million for other plant products), Alaska ($12.8 million for other plant products), and New Hampshire ($50.7 million for other plant products). What is the top agricultural export of your state?
