![]() Estimates vary among sources, but the Farmland Information Center-a partnership between American Farmland Trust and USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service-estimates that 50 acres of farmland is lost every hour to development. However, even this small loss of farmland is an important issue. This modest decline is spread fairly evenly across the country. During the same five-year period, the amount of land in farms changed very little but with minimal decline, resulting in slightly larger farms (average farm size was 4.34 acres in 2012). The decrease in the number of farms is particularly evident in the Southeast and Midwest. Crop production is concentrated in California and the Midwest (Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and Nebraska) while livestock production is scattered across the country with Texas, Iowa, California, Nebraska, and Kansas leading in sales value.ĭespite the growing population, the number of US farms in 2012 declined as compared to the 2007 Census of Agriculture, from 2.2 million to 2.1 million. California leads the country as the largest producer of crops and livestock, accounting for approximately 11 percent of the national total in terms of sales. However, that production is as diverse as the states themselves. The Economic Research Service (ERS) of USDA reports that agriculture production occurs in each of the 50 states. Farmsteads, buildings, and livestock facilities covered the remaining 3.6 percent (32.9 million acres) of farmland.įarmland is most heavily concentrated in the middle of the United States. Of that farmland, 45.4 percent (415.4 million acres) was permanent pasture, 42.6 percent (389.8 million acres) was cropland, and 8.4 percent 76.9 million acres) was woodland. Approximately 40 percent of all US land-totaling 915 million acres-was farmland. ![]() The United States has more arable land (land suitable for growing crops) than any other nation in the world. A family farm is owned and controlled by a family of related individuals. Note that the USDA defines farm as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold during the year. Only 3 percent of farms were non-family corporations, but they accounted for 16 percent of the value of all US agricultural products sold. Although there is a trend toward fewer farms producing an increasing share of agricultural products in this country, US agriculture is positioned to provide for food and fiber needs on a global scale.Īccording to the 2012 Census of Agriculture-USDA’s complete accounting of US farms and ranches and the people who operate them-of the 2.1 million farms in the United States in 2012, 97 percent were family-owned operations. Food is more affordable, more abundant, and is safer in the United States than in any other developed country in the world. Interestingly, The World Factbook of the CIA reports that farming, fishing, and forestry represent only 0.7% of the US labor force. The US farmer is the most productive in the history of the world. ![]() Von Thünen, Johann Heinrich: farmer and economist who studied the relationships between land costs and transportation costs Sauer, Carl: an influential cultural geographer who believed that humans control nature and develop their cultures out of that control Boserup, Ester: Danish agricultural economist who observed human-environment relationshipsĬensus of Agriculture: a complete accounting of US farms and ranches and the people who operate them taken once every five years by US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)Ĭommodity: a primary agricultural product that can be bought and soldĬommodity chain: the set of activities involved in the creation of a good or service each part of the process, including production, distribution, and consumption, represents a discrete link in the chainįamily farm: a farm in which ownership and control of the farm business is held by a family of individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoptionįarm: an area of land used for growing crops or rearing animalsįarm Resource Region: US regions map constructed by US Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Economic Research Service to portray geographic distribution of US farm production ![]()
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