The featured guest on the latest episode of “Talking Trade” is Mark Rhoda-Reis, director of the International Agribusiness Center at the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
Rhoda-Reis gives an update on “quite a strong year” for ag products in the state. Based on year-to-date data from November, he said exports over most of 2021 were up 19 percent over the previous year.
For the overall year, he said “we expect to be up close to that percentage amount; that’ll put us at least our 10-year record for agricultural exports.” He noted the state’s top five export markets saw growth through November, with three of those experiencing growth in the double digits.
“We’re a little bit surprised, if you think about the high cost of containers, the lack of availability of containers, workforce shortages and challenges and being able to produce, but there was so much pent-up demand that we sort of were able to overcome a lot of those headwinds,” he said.
