Ag Exports....

[Darian]

Heard on NPR, yesterday, that Ag products are the number one export for our country, now and rice is one of the largest crops exported to foreign countries (even Japan).

Surprisingly, many of our other exported domestic products are not as popular overseas due to protective tariffs/economic policies. For example, Japan (again) buys US dollars, then devalues it's own currency making Japanese automobile products cheaper in comparison to US automobile products. Japan, also, charges a high tariff on products imported from the US, in particular, making our products more expensive over there and discouraging imports. The outcome of that is to gain an advantage in the manufacturing/sale of their bands over here. I suppose the impact on water usage by manufacturers is a decline in volume used in the production of products for export.

This stuff contributes to reported discussions about which products merit priority consideration for allocation of water, Ag or industrial, and which among Ag crops is more deserving than others (e.g. annual or seasonal, etc.). Accordingly, here's a couple of questions for those who have expressed disapproval of water used for almonds, etc. Since water is used for irrigation in all Ag products for domestic use and export, should we try to limit the export of Ag products to foreign countries?? If yes, which exported crop is deserving of priority in allocation of water for irrigation, if any??? If the answer is no priority of one crop over another, how is water to be rationed among all users??? Keep in mind that federal policies and the balance of trade will limit our ability to regulate Ag/industrial activities.

[SeanO]

Very interesting discussion point, Darian!

Will come back tomorrow with my take and ideas (which of course mean little!). Anyway, bumpin' this up for the early morning people...

Thanks for posting,

[mikel]

There were over 800 million pounds of produce exported from little Monterey County alone in 2013 and they obviously want that to grow.

We export alfalfa to China...the most water intense crop aside (I believe) from Rice. Don't have the numbers here, but it's ridiculous.

Driving into Bakersfield on 7th Standard Rd in the hottest part of the day you will find big ratchet sprinkler pouring h2o on the greenest alfalfa you'll ever see.

[tcorfey]

Darian, this information did not make sense to me I don't know where that NPR reporter got their data but even the NPR website does not agree with Ag being the largest part of the US export picture.

United States Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in American global shipments during 2014. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of US overall exports.

Machines, engines, pumps: US$219,566,232,000 (13.5% of total exports)
Electronic equipment: $171,966,197,000 (10.6%)
Oil: $157,213,437,000 (9.7%)
Vehicles: $135,797,903,000 (8.4%)
Aircraft, spacecraft: $124,831,567,000 (7.7%)
Medical, technical equipment: $84,879,104,000 (5.2%)
Gems, precious metals, coins: $65,522,480,000 (4.0%)
Plastics: $63,025,216,000 (3.9%)
Pharmaceuticals: $43,967,977,000 (2.7%)
Organic chemicals: $42,255,264,000 (2.6%)

After looking at several other sources the only ag product I saw in a top ten list was by MIT listing soybeans at #7.

A couple of sources
http://www.worldstopexports.com/unit...0-exports/2001

https://atlas.media.mit.edu/en/profile/country/usa/

http://www.npr.org/sections/money/20...s-to-the-world

[cyama]

Here is some other info for Calif. Almonds are #5 and growing. That is pretty sad considering Apple sells millions and millions of phones and are about #9… https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade...e/data/ca.html. This data is based purely on overall gross sales not on how much profit is made, so it is all just data. As far as how much labor dollars each category generates should be looked at. For example diamonds and airplane engines and parts will always be at the top….

[Darian]

After reading the linked info you provided, I'm confused too. One of the problems I've noticed in citing figures reported by a media type is that they're not always in context. Figures may be accurate in context but also questionable if that context isn't provided. Another explanation is that I may've heard the info incorrectly as I caught it while tying flies. Also, the station I was listening too includes Capitol Public Radio as well as NPR. Maybe I confused the two. Oh well.... The point of the post was to generate a discussion of the debate over the highest use of water in producing Ag crops.