China purchased more than US$10-billion worth of US farm goods in the first six months of the year, becoming the number one consumer of US agricultural exports.

Vilsack said farm exports during the first half of fiscal 2010 totalled US$59 billion, "the best six months ag trade has had." With the strong start, the USDA will probably raise its forecast of sales for the year, he said.

The forecast now is US$100 billion for total US agriculture exports for the fiscal year ending September 30, up from the recession-hit US$98 billion tallied in 2009 and second to the record US$115 billion of 2008. USDA will update its export forecast on May 27.

"One of the factors is that China is our top market in the first six months, well over US$10 billion," said Vilsack. A USDA official said the exact figure was US$10.6 billion.

China is the world's largest importer of soy and cotton. It roiled the grain market with a purchase of 369,000 tonnes of US corn on May 13, its largest purchase since 2001, and creating hopes of steady, large sales to Beijing.

The world's most populous nation and a dynamic economy, China has shot to prominence as a US farm export market over the past few years. At the start of the decade it ranked seventh, just behind Taiwan and buying less than US$2 billion a year. By 2004, it was No 5 with purchases of US$6 billion, and it would nearly double that figure this year.