Agriculture is a major industry in the United States, and the country is a

net exporter of food.[1] As of the last census of agriculture in 2007,

there were 2.2 million farms, covering an area of 922 million acres
(3,730,000 km2), an average of 418 acres (1.69 km2) per farm.[2]
Although agricultural activity occurs in most states, it is particularly
concentrated in the vast expanse of flat, arable land known as the
Great Plains, which encompasses the central region of the nation.
The top twenty agricultural products of the United States by value as
reported by the FAO in 2003 (ranked in order of value with volume in
metric tons):
1. Corn

256,900,00
0

2. Cattle meat

11,736,000

3.

Cow's milk, whole,

fresh

78,155,000

4. Chicken meat

15,006,000

5. Soybeans

65,800,000

6. Pig meat

8,574,000

7. Wheat

63,590,000

8. Cotton lint

3,968,000

9. Hen eggs

5,141,000

10. Turkey meat

2,584,000

11. Tomatoes

12,275,000

12. Potatoes

20,820,000

13. Grapes

6,126,000

14. Oranges

10,473,000

15. Rice, paddy

9,034,000

16. Apples

4,242,000

17. Sorghum

10,446,000

18. Lettuce

4,490,000

19. Cottonseed

6,073,000

20. Sugar beets

27,760,000

The only other crops to ever appear in the top 20 in the last 40 years were
commonly tobacco, barley, and oats, and rarely, peanuts, almonds, and
sunflower seeds (in all, only 26 of the 188 crops the FAO tracks
worldwide). Alfalfa and hay would both be in the top ten in 2003 if they
were tracked by FAO.

Value of production
Major Crops in the USA
1997
(in US$ billions)
Corn

$24.4

Soybeans

$17.7

Wheat

$8.6

Alfalfa

$8.3

Cotton

$6.1

Hay, other than alfalfa

$5.1

Tobacco

$3.0

Rice

$1.7

Sorghum

$1.4

Barley

$.9

Source:
1997 USDA-NASS reports, [3]

U.S. agriculture has a high yield relative to other countries. The yield was
(in 2004):[6]

Corn for grain, average of 160.4 bushels harvested per acre (10.07 t/ha)

Soybean for beans, average of 42.5 bushels harvested per acre (2.86
t/ha)

Wheat, average of 43.2 bushels harvested per acre (2.91 t/ha, was 44.2
bu/ac or 2.97 t/ha in 2003)

The major livestock industries in the United States are:

Dairy cattle

Beef cattle

Swine (also called hogs or pigs)

Poultry

Sheep
US Livestock and Poultry Inventory
Type

1997

2002

2007

Cattle
and
calves

99,907,017

95,497,994

96,347,858

Hogs
and
pigs

61,188,149

60,405,103

67,786,318

Sheep
and
lambs

8,083,457

6,341,799

5,819,162

Broilers
& other
1,214,446,35 1,389,279,04 1,602,574,59
meat
6
7
2
chicken
s
Laying
314,144,304 334,435,155 349,772,558
hens
Goats, horses, turkeys and bees are also raised, though in lesser
quantities. Inventory data is not as readily available as for the major
industries. For the three major goat-producing states (AZ, NM, and TX)
there were 1,200,000 goats at the end of 2002. There were 5,300,000

horses in the United States at the end of 1998. There were 2,500,000
colonies of bees at the end of 2002.

In round numbers, U.S. farmers produce about $ 143 billion worth of

crops and about $153 billion worth of livestock each year. Production
data from the year 2011 for major agricultural crops grown in this
country are highlighted in the following table:
Major agricultural crops produced in the United States in 2011
Harvested
Area
Cash Receipts from Sales
Crop
(million
acres)
Corn (grain)
84
63.9
Soybeans
73.8
37.6
Hay
55.7
6.7
Wheat
45.7
14.6
Cotton
9.5
8.3
Sorghum (grain)
3.9
1.3
Rice
2.6
2.9

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