WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today released the following statement after USDA's Economic Research Service issued new data showing that agricultural exports support more than one million jobs here at home:

"More than 1 million people go to work every day thanks to exports of American-grown products. Expanded U.S. agricultural exports mean more new jobs, but our farmers and ranchers will miss out on new markets for American products if Congress doesn't act on Trade Promotion Authority early this year."

Fiscal years 2009-2014 represent the strongest 6 years in history for U.S. agricultural trade, with U.S. agricultural product exports totaling $771.7 billion, despite the fact that many other countries' markets are not as open to American products as our markets are to theirs. Agricultural exports last fiscal year reached $152.5 billion, the highest level on record. U.S. agricultural exports now support more than one million jobs here at home, a substantial part of the nearly 11.3 million jobs supported by exports all across our country.