Agriculture Facts
2.2 million farms
dot America’s rural landscape. About 97 percent of U.S. farms
are operated by families – individuals, family partnerships or
family corporations.
Farm and ranch families comprise just 2 percent of the U.S. population.
More than 21 million American workers (15 percent of the total
U.S. workforce) produce, process and sell the nation’s food and
fiber.
Today’s farmers produce 262 percent more food with 2 percent
fewer inputs (labor, seeds, feed, fertilizer, etc.), compared with 1950.
In 2010, $115 billion worth of American agricultural products
were exported around the world. The United States sells more food and
fiber to world markets than we import, creating a positive agricultural
trade balance.