The U.S. Farm Sector: How Agricultural Exports Are Shaping Rural Economies in the 1980's

Judith E. Sommer and Fred K. Hines

No 309468, Agricultural Information Bulletins from United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service

Abstract: U.S. agricultural exports affected rural economies unevenly in the 1980's, benefiting 419 export-dependent counties the most during export trade upswings and hitting them the hardest during export trade downturns. Export-dependent counties are those in which 50 percent or more of total farm sales are generated by five major export-bound crops: corn, wheat, soybeans, cotton, and rice. Of those counties, economic boom-and-bust cycles were most severe in the 173 that also rely on farming for 20 percent or more of all labor and proprietor income. Economic expectations for export-dependent counties are brightening in the late 1980's because of farmers’ keener cost competitiveness, lighter farmer debt loads, export-oriented farm legislation, a depreciated dollar, and movement toward freer world trade.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Community/Rural/Urban Development; Financial Economics; International Relations/Trade; Labor and Human Capital (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30
Date: 1988-09
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:uersab:309468

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.309468

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