U.S. Planting Seeds

U.S. planting seed exports during the July-March period totaled 903,577 metric tons valued at $736.9 million, increases of 73 and 27 percent, respectively, over the same period last year. Imports for the period reached 137,595 tons valued at $238.4 million.

For the first time since the 1989/90 marketing year (MY) the 9-month cumulative total export value exceeds the previous year's full 12-month total. This year's 9-month cumulative value exceeds last year's 12-month total by $32.8 million compared to the MY 1989/90 value of $34.3 million.

Virtually all major seed groups are contributing to this year's export surge with current increases in volume ranging from a low of 21 percent for pulse seed to a high of 90 percent for field crop seed and values ranging from 15 percent for vegetable seed to 37 percent for pulse seed. On the import side, three groups are declining in volume and one in value from last year.

Field corn seed takes top honors for both imports and exports, reaching $126 million in exports and $44.0 in imports leaving a balance of trade of $81.6 million. Cumulative totals show that two seedkinds have exceeded $100 million in total exports and ten more in the $10 million to $100 million range. These 12 seedkinds accounted for 68 percent of total seed exports. On the import side, only five seedkinds have exceeded the $10 million level. The five seedkinds accounted for 56 percent of total imports.

Mexico continued as the best export market for planting seeds, surging 105 percent to 321,375 tons and 56 percent by value at $162.9 million. Canada led suppliers of planting seeds to the United States, shipping 92,934 tons, valued at $70.9 million, a decrease of 2 percent in volume but an increase of 14 percent in value.

So far, Mexico is the only U.S. planting seed market to ever exceed the $100 million level. This year, for the first time, a second country may exceed that level. Italy is on track to become the second. At one time, during MY's 1989/90 through 1991/92, there was a possibility that Italy would reach that level first, but restrictive plant health restrictions imposed by the European Community on soybean seed prevented that occurrence.

U.S. Planting Seed Export Highlights

July-June Marketing Year 1996/97 Compared to 1995/96




	1995/96	1996/97	Change	1995/96	1996/97	Change
	Metric Tons		%	$1,000		%
ALL SEEDS	522,162	903,577	73.0%	579,669	736,851	27.1%
BY KIND
Grasses	35724	44263	23.9%	44260	56194	27.0%
Tall Fescue	4292	8464	97.2%	5367	8891	65.7%
Annual Ryegrass	9221	9391	1.8%	7255	7340	1.2%
Sorghum-sudan Crosses	4015	5957	48.4%	4937	7177	45.4%
Perennial Ryegrass	4660	5154	10.6%	6054	6670	10.2%
Kentucky Bluegrass	1704	2523	48.1%	4383	5193	18.5%
Bentgrass	1053	1375	30.6%	3094	4412	42.6%
Other Fescue	1966	2611	32.8%	2547	4295	68.6%
Other Forages	20548	27085	31.8%	53454	73090	36.7%
Certified Alfalfa	8844	13039	47.4%	30304	44693	47.5%
Uncertified Alfalfa	2297	3665	59.6%	6157	9510	54.5%
Red Clover	871	1084	24.5%	1996	2614	31.0%
Crimson Clover	634	981	54.7%	968	1210	25.0%
White & Ladino Clover	341	374	9.7%	1076	1177	9.4%
Pulses	36947	44721	21.0%	30539	39905	30.7%
Pea	17561	15301	-12.9%	13203	11364	-13.9%
Other Kidney Bean	2505	5609	123.9%	2327	5859	151.8%
Gram Bean	3769	3451	-8.4%	3999	4566	14.2%
Navy Bean	2346	4649	98.2%	1905	3182	67.0%
Vegetables	30957	37754	22.0%	159913	183728	14.9%
Sweet Corn	7737	16564	114.1%	21039	57928	175.3%
Tomato	987	1157	17.2%	17770	18236	2.6%
Onion	1401	867	-38.1%	14146	11062	-21.8%
Mushroom Spawn	4771	4144	-13.1%	10916	8570	-21.5%
Pepper	1453	1523	4.8%	8114	8092	-0.3%
Squash	1056	1157	9.6%	6695	7580	13.2%
Watermelon	1100	929	-15.5%	8054	7320	-9.1%
Cucumber	892	735	-17.6%	8323	6790	-18.4%
Cantaloupe	1028	863	-16.1%	5177	5088	-1.7%
Field Crops	393445	746126	89.6%	250218	335204	34.0%
Field Corn	71915	68839	-4.3%	127043	125640	-1.1%
Soybean	120018	311223	159.3%	42953	108258	152.0%
Non-durum Wheat	86562	299052	245.5%	13762	54930	299.1%
Cotton	16731	12424	-25.7%	24047	14849	-38.3%
Grain Sorghum	44862	36865	-17.8%	12533	13542	8.1%
Other Sunflower	12114	8474	-30.0%	13767	11179	-18.8%
Oil Sunflower	17083	4073	-76.2%	7533	4778	-36.6%
Miscellaneous Kinds	4541	3629	-20.1%	41285	48730	18.0%
Flower	213	336	57.7%	25315	31237	23.4%
Tree and Shrub	164	80	-51.2%	2973	2862	-3.7%
Sugar Beet	562	400	-28.8%	2601	2070	-20.4%
BY REGION
European Union	127821	127398	-0.3%	207894	240167	15.5%
North America	216566	435784	101.2%	173517	239100	37.8%
Other Asia 1/	103663	204538	97.3%	70342	97418	38.5%
BY COUNTRY
Mexico	157053	321375	104.6%	104552	162915	55.82%
Italy	38539	45258	17.4%	76768	91873	19.7%
Japan	43456	196615	352.4%	49180	82273	67.3%
Canada	59512	114409	92.2%	68965	76185	10.5%
Argentina	10586	22081	108.6%	28240	50819	80.0%
Netherlands	27624	14962	-45.8%	31453	32909	4.6%
France	12990	15495	19.3%	26376	27357	3.7%
Greece	12172	11276	-7.4%	23193	27038	16.6%
Spain	21047	12331	-41.4%	19514	18678	-4.3%
United Kingdom	5096	13581	166.5%	10236	16692	63.1%
Saudi Arabia	2668	5643	111.5%	7833	14016	78.9%
Germany	5343	6259	17.1%	8806	11031	25.3%
Australia	4563	4090	-10.4%	7764	9069	16.8%
Philippines	389	39584	10075.8%	2210	7537	241.0%
Egypt	1114	29218	2522.8%	4071	7393	81.6%
South Korea	4905	4065	-17.1%	7946	6939	-12.7%
Brazil	748	3603	381.7%	5274	6804	29.0%
Turkey	1684	3248	92.9%	4803	6497	35.3%
Chile	1688	2473	46.5%	4722	6216	31.6%
Portugal	1211	1915	58.1%	3995	5787	44.9%
South Africa	772	2289	196.5%	2891	5231	80.9%
China	53792	1918	-96.4%	9426	4095	-56.6%
Colombia	5614	1580	-71.9%	4109	3833	-6.7%
Austria	994	1363	37.1%	3205	2719	-15.2%
Peru	1012	1498	48.0%	1867	2478	32.7%
United Arab Emirates	409	230	-43.8%	4636	2379	-48.7%
Belgium	498	2356	373.1%	562	2341	316.5%
Hong Kong	735	1093	48.7%	1919	2106	9.7%
Venezuela	655	247	-62.3%	2952	2051	-30.5%
Pakistan	1381	1100	-20.3%	2779	2038	-26.7%
Taiwan	769	848	10.3%	1826	2005	9.8%

\1 Other Asia region includes China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau, and Taiwan.
Source: Compiled from U.S. Bureau of Census records.
Prepared by USDA/FAS/COTSD
June 1997

U.S. Planting Seed Import Highlights

July-June Marketing Year 1996/97 Compared to 1995/96




July-March	1995/96	1996/97	Change	1995/96	1996/97	Change
	Metric Tons		%	$1,000		%
ALL SEEDS	135,578	137,595	1.5%	196,464	238,387	21.3%
BY KIND
Grasses	19,270	27,870	44.6%	20,787	34,038	63.7%
Red Fescue	11,778	15,644	32.8%	10,545	16,998	61.2%
Perennial Ryegrass	341	5,243	1437.5%	1,315	7,461	467.4%
Wheatgrass	604	1,143	89.2%	1,019	2,134	109.4%
Bromegrass	1,114	956	-14.2%	1,742	1,463	-16.0%
Timothy	2,838	2,258	-20.4%	1,983	1,360	-31.4%
Other Forages	11,219	6,744	-39.9%	18,654	13,137	-29.6%
Uncertified Alfalfa	3,118	2,272	-27.1%	6,602	5,476	-17.1%
Certified Alfalfa	781	867	11.0%	1,690	2,017	19.3%
Red Clover	3,143	965	-69.3%	4,127	1,617	-60.8%
White and Ladino Clover	522	413	-20.9%	1,508	1,009	-33.1%
Pulses	42,595	39,806	-6.5%	17,795	19,457	9.3%
Pea	12,224	17,863	46.1%	3,566	5,851	64.1%
Gram Bean	8,402	7,582	-9.8%	4,832	5,448	12.7%
Lentil	2,343	2,856	21.9%	1,158	1,260	8.8%
Vegetables	4,461	8,539	91.4%	51,456	68,151	32.4%
Tomato	194	200	3.1%	17,006	17,924	5.4%
Pepper	68	81	19.1%	6,109	10,015	63.9%
Watermelon	182	296	62.6%	3,603	5,303	47.2%
Pumpkin	1,250	2,195	75.6%	2,725	4,822	77.0%
Onion	107	296	176.6%	4,206	4,242	0.9%
Cantaloupe	32	65	103.1%	2,290	3,932	71.7%
Other Melons	140	137	-2.1%	1,634	2,060	26.1%
Cabbage	13	21	61.5%	1,307	1,949	49.1%
Cucumber	18	27	50.0%	1,309	1,827	39.6%
Spinach	195	483	147.7%	893	1,604	79.6%
Celery	1,573	1,769	12.5%	1,243	1,358	9.3%
Squash	58	34	-41.4%	1,255	1,125	-10.4%
Cauliflower	14	12	-14.3%	1,000	1,067	6.7%
Field Crops	57,110	53,533	-6.3%	45,794	53,796	17.5%
Field Corn	27,943	31,787	13.8%	35,257	44,004	24.8%
Rape and Colza	5,184	682	-86.8%	3,028	2,780	-8.2%
Non-durum Wheat	10,556	8,866	-16.0%	2,197	2,104	-4.2%
Other Sunflower	1,130	687	-39.2%	2,166	1,823	-15.8%
Soybean	3,639	2,598	-28.6%	1,277	1,330	4.2%
Barley	4,568	5,983	31.0%	883	1,089	23.3%
Miscellaneous Kinds	925	1,103	19.2%	41,978	49,809	18.7%
Flower	394	532	35.0%	38,111	43,733	14.8%
Tree and Shrub	181	179	-1.1%	1,453	2,907	100.1%
BY REGION
North America	101,594	94,544	-6.9%	72,523	81,639	12.6%
European Union	4,050	4,177	3.1%	35,113	44,839	27.7%
South America	19,010	21,641	13.8%	31,118	40,288	29.5%
BY COUNTRY
Canada	94,663	92,934	-1.8%	62,491	70,915	13.5%
Chile	10,018	12,243	22.2%	18,148	26,578	46.5%
Netherlands	1,426	1,254	-12.1%	19,603	21,361	9.0%
China	5,059	5,601	10.7%	16,453	20,172	22.6%
Japan	46	68	47.8%	12,025	11,198	-6.9%
Mexico	6,930	1,610	-76.8%	10,032	10,724	6.9%
Argentina	7,892	7,390	-6.4%	11,462	10,257	-10.5%
New Zealand	1,574	4,481	184.7%	3,307	6,970	110.8%
France	1,156	937	-18.9%	4,084	6,457	58.1%
Germany	175	231	32.0%	4,219	5,873	39.2%
India	1,534	2,240	46.0%	4,870	5,357	10.0%
Denmark	618	1,189	92.4%	3,013	5,087	68.8%
Australia	878	2,380	171.1%	2,539	4,719	85.9%
Israel	73	154	111.0%	4,102	4,326	5.5%
Guatemala	14	13	-7.1%	5,233	4,167	-20.4%
Taiwan	91	89	-2.2%	1,628	3,587	120.3%
United Kingdom	181	158	-12.7%	1,983	3,394	71.2%
Thailand	401	485	20.9%	1,780	2,556	43.6%
Costa Rica	16	24	50.0%	424	2,270	435.4%
Italy	367	336	-8.4%	1,885	2,205	17.0%
Brazil	389	1,167	200.0%	600	2,100	250.0%
Peru	635	777	22.4%	771	1,303	69.0%
Hungary	359	563	56.8%	667	1,118	67.6%
Kenya	1	1	-10.1%	1,080	880	-18.5%
South Korea	9	13	44.4%	530	708	33.6%
Indonesia	1	---	-18.7%	230	471	104.8%
Hong Kong	131	166	26.7%	480	420	-12.5%
South Africa	63	58	-7.9%	529	370	-30.1%
Egypt	55	143	160.0%	200	346	73.0%
Vietnam	1	4	1030.6%	25	336	1244.0%
Turkey	316	123	-61.1%	554	323	-41.7%
Zimbabwe	7	2	-71.4%	104	260	150.0%
Burma	8	342	4175.0%	11	222	1918.2%

--- indicates less than 500 kilograms
Source: Compiled from U.S. Bureau of Census records.
Prepared by USDA/FAS/TCSD
June 1997

U.S. Planting Seed Exports by Value For the Top 5 Export Markets by Seed Group July-March 1996/97 Million Dollars
	Grasses	Other Forages	Pulses	Vegetables	Field Crops	Misc. Kinds	Total
Mexico	$8.5	$10.2	$6.0	$37.9	$99.1	$1.2	$162.9
Italy	$3.4	$3.1	$3.7	$26.3	$51.6	$3.8	$91.9
Japan	$8.6	$5.8	$2.0	$13.1	$47.1	$5.6	$82.3
Canada	$8.3	$6.6	$3.7	$17.1	$30.3	$10.1	$76.2
Argentina	$5.2	$29.6	$0.2	$4.6	$11.0	$0.3	$50.8