Wisconsin Sets Record High Ag Exports in 2022

Tuesday, March 7th, 2023 -- 8:01 AM

(By Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) -Wisconsin agricultural and forestry producers set a new record high for exports last year, topping the previous record in 2021.

According to Hope Kirwan with Wisconsin Public Radio, the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection reported that U.S. Census trade data shows food, forestry and agriculture exports totaled nearly $4.22 billion in 2022, up 7 percent from the previous year.

Mark Rhoda-Reis, director of DATCP's International Agribusiness Center, said the growth was surprising after seeing widespread supply chain impacts during the pandemic and high inflation last year.

"All of those things you would point to and say things should be flat or maybe even down," Rhoda-Reis said. "But instead, they're quite a bit up and we believe that's largely due to demand regaining after COVID and actually coming back a lot stronger."

Dairy product exports saw the largest growth, coming in 32 percent higher than in 2021 at a total of $617 million. That's $100 million more than the previous record high set in 2014, according to DATCP.

Leonard Polzin, dairy economist with the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Division of Extension, said he thinks much of the export growth came from record high milk prices in 2022 rather than through the sale of more products.

Polzin said the U.S. only saw a small amount of growth in milk production last year, but competitors like the European Union, New Zealand and Australia saw production declines.

"There's generally less product available, which means that even though the market price may be higher, the international market was still wanting to purchase our product," he said. Polzin said strong international demand does come back to improve milk prices for farmers.

He said America's Dairyland especially benefited from growth in demand for cheese, which is a top product for Wisconsin's industry. Rhoda-Reis said demand for Wisconsin cheese has especially grown in Asian countries like China and Korea.

He said cheese hasn't traditionally been a part of Asian diets, but the product has grown in popularity along with foods like pizza.

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