We now have the complete US ag trade numbers for the first seven months of this fiscal year, October through April, and for US exports, we are at $108.8 billion, down 5% from the previous year. USDA economist Bart Kenner says a 5% decline for the year to date may sound bad, but it actually may represent a bit of an improvement. You heard him say that in April, US ag exports were running 5% below same time a year ago.

“In March, that number was 6% lower. February data showed a 7% decrease from the previous year, and January data showed 9% decrease, and December, data showed 11% decrease. And so we’ve closed the gap from last year to survive, about 2% a month since December.”

One possible reason for that, a cooling down of inflation that we’ve seen over the last six months, Gary Crawford for the US Department of Agriculture.