Agriculture: U.S. Statistics: About US Agriculture Statistics

The Data Planet repository includes many indicators related to agricultural production and operations, as well as food consumption, in the United States, primarily sourced from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Statistics range from the counts of livestock and farms, to crop prices, crops planted and harvested, crop yield, and much, much more.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was created by the Agricultural Act of May 15, 1862, signed into law by President Abraham Lincoln. Key activities include:

• expanding markets for agricultural products and support international economic development;
• further developing alternative markets for agricultural products and activities;
• providing financing needed to help expand job opportunities and improve housing, utilities, and infrastructure in rural America;
• enhancing food safety by taking steps to reduce the prevalence of food-borne hazards;
• improving nutrition and health by providing food assistance and nutrition education and promotion; and
• managing and protecting America’s public and private lands working cooperatively with other levels of government and the private sector.

Major data statistical programs of USDA include the Economic Research Service, the Foreign Agricultural Service, the National Agricultural Statistics Service, and the World Agricultural Outlook Board.

https://usda.gov

So you're interested in data on agriculture in the United States, but which datasets should you set your sights on? Well, here's a list of relevant datasets, along with a short description of each. The hyperlinks will take you to a DataSheet created using statistics from the dataset described.

• USDA Agricultural Census: Conducted since 1840, the Census of Agriculture conducted by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) of the USDA provides comprehensive data on the current situation, historical changes in U.S. agriculture, and long-term trends. The Census also collects information on the agricultural industry that is not gathered elsewhere in the annual survey programs conducted by the NASS, including data on areas such as agritourism, organic production, farmer demographics, specialized agricultural production, Internet access and more. Conducted every five years, the Census provides a detailed picture of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Participation in the Census is required by law, and is the responsibility of every farmer and rancher, regardless of the size or type of operation. 
• USDA Agricultural Surveys: In addition to to the Census of Agriculture conducted every five years, the National Agricultural Statistics Service of the USDA conducts hundreds of surveys during each calendar year of farm operations in the U.S. Included in the dataset are statistics related to animal and livestock and crop production, farm economics, and use of chemicals by farm operations. 
• USDA Commodity Prices: Presents data on crop prices, by commodity and state. Prices received represent sales from producers to first buyers. They include all grades and qualities. The average commodity price from the survey multiplied by the total quantity marketed theoretically should give the total cash receipts for the commodity. Individual producers normally market commodities few times during the year.
• USDA Farm Counts: The National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) issues data on the number of farms and land in farms by state. 
• USDA Food Environment Atlas: Focusing on the topic of food security, this dataset (with over 250+ indicators!) paints a picture of food choices, health and diet, as well as community characteristics within U.S. counties.
• USDA Food Access Research Atlas: This dataset complements the other atlas, and as such, also focuses on food security—specifically access to food. The data available at the state and census tract levels.
• USDA Per Capita Food Availability: The per capita food availability data compiled by the USDA Economic Research Service reflect the amount of food available for human consumption in the United States. This historical series measures the national food supply of several hundred foods, and it is the only source of time series data on U.S. food availability in the country. ERS's food availability data are often referred to as food disappearance data because the data represent the resulting food supply after food "disappears" into the food marketing system. Food availability data measure the use of basic commodities, such as wheat, beef, and shell eggs for food products at the farm level or an early stage of processing. They do not measure food use of highly processed foods.
• USDA World Agricultural Production: As the name of this dataset suggests, data is available beyond the United States, which makes for an easy comparison across countries on various commodities. 
• The Bureau of Labor Statistics Import/Export Indexes includes trade data on U.S. exports and imports for agricultural commodities and products. Also explore datasets from the BEA and Census Bureau for data on employment in farms, food consumption expenditures, and much, much more. 

Click on the links below to view sample DataSheets comprising statistical abstracts complete with infographics of indicators relevant to U.S. agriculture in Data Planet to further manipulate the data and explore relationships between agriculture metrics and other indicators in the vast Data Planet repository.

The examples below are just a sampling to give you an idea of the granularity of the available data. There are many more indicators on this topic in the repository—add search terms for commodities, states, counties, and more, or contact your library staff for help in formulating your search strategy.

Rankings

• Animals and Livestock - Livestock: Features the top 10 states with the highest gross income generated from hogs (through sale, production, etc.) in 2023.
• Crops - Fruit and Tree Nuts: Ranks states by the pounds of pecans produced in 2023.
• Crops - Field Crops: Ranks states by the acres of chickpeas harvested and acres planted in 2023.

Trends

• Animals and Livestock - Animal Totals: Shows the trend in value of sales of USDA-certified organic animals vs. animal products across time in the United States.
• Animals and Livestock - Dairy: Shows the trend in production of low-fat and nonfat ice cream vs. total production of ice cream over time.
• Crops - Horticulture: Shows a trend in the pounds of mushrooms produced in Pennsylvania vs. California.

Maps

• Crops - Crops Totals: Maps U.S. states by the value of agricultural production in 2022.
• Crops - Vegetables: Maps counties within California by the acres of tomatoes harvested in 2023.
• Economics - Expenses: Maps Nebraska counties by rent expense per acre for irrigated crop land.

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