It is generally believed that Russia’s total ban on all food and agricultural products from the U.S. announced this week will have a marginal effect upon U.S. agribusiness, however the effect upon the chicken and nut sectors could be more pronounced. Although shipments to Russia account for a fraction of total U.S. exports volumes, U.S. poultry producers ship approximately 7% of annual export volumes valued at $310 million to the country, making Russia the second biggest buyer of U.S. chicken after Mexico. Such a ban twenty years ago, or earlier would have had a much bigger impact. Over the past decades Russian U.S. chicken imports have declined as the country has worked to boost domestic poultry production. Tree nuts are the second largest U.S. agricultural product by value shipped to Russia with California expected to be hit the hardest. In 2013 U.S. nut producers shipped 3.4% of their crop worth $139 million to Russia with pistachios making up 2.8% of total exports. Although nuts are losing a bigger market, nuts’ long shelf life give the industry more time to find alternative markets than producers of more perishable goods.
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