Colorado Agricultural Exports Up In Early 2012

DENVER (AP) - Colorado's agricultural exports are up for the early part of the year.

The state agriculture department said Tuesday that agriculture exports in January and February grew by more than 25 percent compared with the same period in 2011, led by strong meat and dairy sales. For early 2012, Colorado had more than $222 million in agriculture exports.

The department's Tim Larsen says meat exports increased by around $30 million and dairy products rose by around $6 million for January and February, compared with a year ago. Meat exports have increased every year since 2008.

Larsen says Colorado is the top U.S. exporter of beef to Canada, which is the state's largest market of all agriculture exports.

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