North Carolina farm products gaining internationally

CHARLOTTE (AP) — North Carolina agriculture is gaining a larger worldwide market.

The state ranked ninth out of the 50 states last year in agricultural exports. The report by the U.S. Agriculture Department says the state moved up three places from a year earlier.

The agriculture department says North Carolina exported more than two billion dollars worth of products in 2006. The year before the state exported one-point-eight billion dollars worth.

Increased farm product exports come as the state’s traditional furniture and textile industries decline.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)