ABSTRACT
The United States always has been an active exporter of agricultural products. Even well before nationhood, for example, tobacco, cotton, and other commodities were traded for manufactured goods, and as technological progress was made during the nineteenth century in transportation and refrigeration, perishables-meat, fruits, vegeta bles-also left American shores bound for foreign markets. By 1950, the proportion of U.S. farm income from crop and livestock exports approached 25 percent, with wheat and other grain exports playing a large and growing role.
