Despite trade disputes with China, Canada, Mexico and the European Union, the four largest customers for U.S. farm exports, 2018 will be a banner year for overseas sales, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture — $142.5 billion in exports, the second-highest tally ever, Successful Farming reported. Thank the calendar, in part. The USDA bases its export figures on fiscal years, which open on Oct.1. “We’re pretty far into fiscal 2018,” said USDA Chief Economist Robert Johansson in mid-June, with less than four months to go and sales remaining strong. But farmers are “taking on water fast,” said Jim Heimerl, president of the Pork Producers. Iowa State University economists say there’s truth to the adage that agriculture is the first casualty in trade disputes. In two earlier clashes, China used retaliatory tariffs “to inflict economic loss on politically influential groups. China has chosen agricultural products, as it sees the affected U.S. producers to be politically powerful,” Minghao Li, Wendong Zhang and Chad Hart said in an ISU article. The USDA will make its first estimate of fiscal 2019 sales, involving this year’s crops, on Aug. 29.