INDUSTRY OVERVIEW:
Companies in this industry sector grow crops, raise or fatten animals for animal products, and grow and harvest timber. Major crop production companies include AMAGGI, Chiquita, Dole Food Company, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Sunkist Growers, and Total Produce; major animal production companies include Agri Beef, Dairy Farmers of America, JBS SA, and WH Group. Major timber operations include PotlatchDeltic, Resolute Forest Products, Stora Enso, and Weyerhaeuser.
The global agricultural market was about $12 trillion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4%, according to The Business Research Company. According to Investopedia, the US, China, India, and Russia are among the top cereal and vegetable crop producers. Top wood product sources include Canada, Russia, Sweden, and the US, according to WorldsTopExports.
The US agriculture and forestry sector includes about 2 million farms and about 3,000 timber companies with combined annual revenue of nearly $500 billion.
In 2016, 21.4 million full- and part-time jobs were related to the agricultural and food sectors—11.0 percent of total U.S. employment. Direct on-farm employment accounted for about 2.6 million of these jobs, or 1.4 percent of U.S. employment. Employment in agriculture- and food-related industries supported another 18.7 million jobs. Of this, food service, eating and drinking places accounted for the largest share—12.2 million jobs—and food/beverage stores supported 3.2 million jobs. The remaining agriculture-related industries together added another 3.3 million jobs.
In 2015, the U.S. food and beverage manufacturing sector employed more than 1.5 million people, or just over 1 percent of all U.S. nonfarm employment. In over 34,000 food and beverage manufacturing plants located throughout the country, these employees were engaged in transforming raw agricultural materials into products for intermediate or final consumption. Meat and poultry plants employed the largest percentage of food and beverage manufacturing workers, followed by bakeries, and fruit and vegetable processing plants.
Companies in this industry sector grow crops, raise or fatten animals for animal products, and grow and harvest timber. Major crop production companies include AMAGGI, Chiquita, Dole Food Company, Fresh Del Monte Produce, Sunkist Growers, and Total Produce; major animal production companies include Agri Beef, Dairy Farmers of America, JBS SA, and WH Group. Major timber operations include PotlatchDeltic, Resolute Forest Products, Stora Enso, and Weyerhaeuser.
The global agricultural market was about $12 trillion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4%, according to The Business Research Company. According to Investopedia, the US, China, India, and Russia are among the top cereal and vegetable crop producers. Top wood product sources include Canada, Russia, Sweden, and the US, according to WorldsTopExports.
The US agriculture and forestry sector includes about 2 million farms and about 3,000 timber companies with combined annual revenue of nearly $500 billion.
Industry Forecast
Revenue (in current dollars) for US agriculture and forestry production is forecast to grow at an annual compounded rate of 4% between 2023 and 2028, based on changes in physical volume and unit prices.
Logging workers earn about the same as the national average. Injuries are commonly due to hazards associated with overexertion and operating heavy equipment and is about the same as the national average.
U.S. agricultural production relies heavily on the Nation’s land, water, and other natural resources, and has a direct impact on the quality of the Nation’s natural environment. Over the years, significant improvement in the sector’s productive use of resources has reduced the amount of land and water needed per unit of output, and concerted public and private efforts have greatly improved the sector’s environmental performance. These charts document several aspects of these trends.
USDA conservation efforts rely mainly on voluntary incentive programs to address natural resource issues. The Conservation Reserve Program pays farmers to remove environmentally sensitive land from production and encourages partial field practices including grass waterways and riparian buffers. Working-land programs provide technical and financial assistance to farmers who install or maintain conservation practices on land in production (e.g., nutrient management, conservation tillage, and field-edge filter strips). Agricultural easements provide long-term protection for agricultural land and wetlands. The Regional Conservation Partners Program coordinates conservation program assistance with partners to solve problems on a regional or watershed scale.
Agriculture accounted for an estimated 10 percent of U.S. greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in 2014. In agriculture, crop and livestock activities are important sources of nitrous oxide and methane emissions, notably from fertilizer application, enteric fermentation (a normal digestive process in animals that produces methane), and manure storage and management. GHG emissions from agriculture have increased by approximately 10 percent since 1990. During this time period, total U.S. GHG emissions increased approximately 7 percent.
The 2012 U.S. land area amounted to nearly 2.3 billion acres, with nearly 1.2 billion acres in agricultural use. The share of the land base in agricultural use declined from 63 percent in 1949 to 52 percent in 2012, the latest year for which comprehensive national data are available. Gradual declines have occurred in cropland, while grazed forestland has decreased more rapidly. In 2012, 392 million acres of agricultural land were in cropland (an 18-percent decline from 1949); 655 million acres were in grassland pasture and range (4 percent more than in 1949); 130 million acres were in grazed forestland (59 percent less than in 1949); and 8 million acres were in farmsteads and farm roads (45 percent less than in 1949). Urban land, while it represents a relatively small share of the U.S. land base, has nearly tripled in area since 1949.
The CRP covered about 24 million acres of environmentally sensitive land near the end of 2016, with an annual budget of roughly $2 billion (currently USDA’s largest conservation program in terms of spending). Enrollees receive annual rental and other incentive payments for taking eligible land out of production for 10 years or more. Program acreage tends to be concentrated on marginally productive cropland that is susceptible to erosion by wind or rainfall. A large share of CRP land is located in the Plains (from Texas to Montana), where rainfall is limited and much of the land is subject to potentially severe wind erosion. Smaller concentrations of CRP land are found in eastern Washington, southern Iowa, northern Missouri, and the Mississippi Delta.
The global agricultural market was about $12 trillion in 2022 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.4%, according to The Business Research Company. According to Investopedia, the US, China, India, and Russia are among the top cereal and vegetable crop producers. Top wood product sources include Canada, Russia, Sweden, and the US, according to WorldsTopExports.
China is the leading producer of rice. Rice farming is concentrated in the Asia/Pacific region; India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Vietnam are also large producers. India is the leading rice exporter. China and India are the countries with the most wheat production. China, India, and the US are the largest vegetable and fruit producers. Other top producers include Russia, the US, and France. China produces the most tree nuts, followed closely by the US.
Although regional and international trade in cut timber is fairly small because of the large transportation costs, trade is substantial in value-added wood products like lumber and plywood. Canada is a major source of US imports of wood products.
Global concerns about climate change and deforestation are major challenges for the agriculture and forestry sector. Disruptions in crop production and imports and exports in one part of the world have a ripple effect across the globe. The FAO considers climate change a top priority and has pledged to help member states address food security and sustainability in the context of climate change.
Environmental concerns related to large-scale livestock production pose challenges for the industry. Animal waste, antibiotics, hormones, and fertilizers and chemicals for feed crops can cause water and air pollution. Deforestation and illegal logging also are major concerns. Many global trade and environmental groups are pushing the livestock industry to become more sustainable, according to the FAO.
In the US, states with the most agriculture, forestry, and fishing establishments include California, Washington, Oregon, Florida, and Texas.
American agriculture and rural life underwent a tremendous transformation in the 20th century. Early 20th century agriculture was labor intensive, and it took place on many small, diversified farms in rural areas where more than half the U.S. population lived. Agricultural production in the 21st century, on the other hand, is concentrated on a small number of large, specialized farms in rural areas where less than a fourth of the U.S. population lives. The following material provides an overview of these trends, as well as trends in farm sector and farm household incomes.
After peaking at 6.8 million farms in 1935, the number of U.S. farms fell sharply until leveling off in the early 1970s. Falling farm numbers during this period reflected growing productivity in agriculture and increased nonfarm employment opportunities. Because the amount of farmland did not decrease as much as the number of farms, the remaining farms have more acreage, on average—about 440 acres in 2016 versus 155 acres in 1935. About 2.06 million farms are currently in operation.
Technological developments in agriculture have been influential in driving changes in the farm sector. Innovations in animal and crop genetics, chemicals, equipment, and farm organization have enabled continuing output growth without adding much to inputs. As a result, even as the amount of land and labor used in farming declined, total farm output more than doubled between 1948 and 2015.
Gross cash farm income (GCFI) is annual income before expenses and includes income from cash receipts, farm-related cash income, and Government farm program payments. GCFI is forecast at $404 billion in 2018, versus $320 billion (inflation-adjusted 2018 dollars) in 2000, with the increase largely due to higher cash receipts. After declining in 2015 and 2016, GCFI is forecast to stabilize in 2017 and decline 2 percent (or by $9 billion) in 2018.
Gross farm income reflects the total value of agricultural output plus Government farm program payments. Net farm income (NFI)—which reflects income from production in the current year—is calculated by subtracting farm expenses from gross farm income. NFI considers both cash and noncash income and expenses. Inflation-adjusted net farm income is forecast to stabilize in 2017 and decline 8 percent in 2018, to $59.5 billion, after declining in 2014 through 2016. Inflation-adjusted expenses are projected to be relatively unchanged in 2017 and 2018 after declining in 2015 and 2016.
Major crops include sugarcane, corn, rice, and wheat; major animal products include pigs, cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry.
Crop Production
Crop farming operations consist of soil preparation; planting; application of fertilizer, pesticides, and water; and harvesting. Most farmers concentrate on one or a few crops, depending on local soil, weather, and water conditions. Many farms harvest multiple crops multiple times during the year.
Farmers must accurately measure the number of seeds per acre: crowded seeds can delay maturity and stunt growth, while low plant populations result in poor yields. Farmers closely monitor crop yield per acre, which is affected by weather, fertilizer, and pesticide applications and proper crop and seed selection. Yields can fluctuate yearly.
Most crop farms are highly mechanized for activities like tilling, planting, and applying fertilizer. Harvesting is often done using specialized machinery, but also may require large amounts of manual labor, depending on the crop.
Common inputs include seed, fertilizer, chemicals for weed control, fuel, electricity, machinery, and repairs. Recent technological advances include new strains of hybridized and GM seed and improved fertilizers and chemicals for controlling weeds, pests, and disease. Farm machine innovations have improved seed planting, threshing, and the transfer of grains and oilseeds to silos and elevators. New GPS guidance and autosteer technologies can improve crop yield, and the use of drones allows farmers to inspect fields quicker and more efficiently.
Animal Production
Livestock and poultry operators breed animals, supply feed, maintain animal health, provide shelter, and dispose of animal wastes. Feed (typically corn or soybean meal) is the largest direct cost of raising animals. Farmers must balance the cost of feed against its nutritional value.
Besides feed, major inputs common to most livestock and poultry farms include fencing, vaccines, animal branding and identification tools, and transport vehicles. Advances in technology include improved genetics and breeding, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags that monitor and trace livestock, improved ultrasound monitoring in cows, and antibiotics to reduce illness and disease outbreaks. Drones can be used to monitor and track animals.
Timber Production
Timber operations can be divided into forestry operations and logging operations. Forestry involves the care of growing forests, including planting and tending trees (silviculture), controlling erosion, creating fire breaks, surveying, removing diseased or damaged trees, and marking trees for logging. Logging involves felling trees, removing branches and top, cutting into lengths (“bucking”), hauling the logs out of the forest, sorting logs by type, loading logs onto trucks, and trucking to sawmills or other destinations. To be able to remove logs from a forest, operators often must first build access roads. Timber operations may also enter into management contracts with independent logging companies that harvest the timber; management then sells the timber to brokers or at market.
Drones are being used in forestry to survey and monitor large areas quicker than humans can. They are increasingly showing up in firefighting activities, especially for large forest fires where a higher vantage point and thermal sensors can save trees, property, and lives.
Federal, state, and local governments are major owners of timberland in the US. Timber companies may own or lease timberland or hold licenses for logging rights on private or public land.
Typical crop customers include grain elevator operators and cooperatives, oilseed processors, food distributors, food processors, livestock ranches and feedlots, and ethanol plants. Typical livestock customers are feedlot operators and slaughterhouses (packers). The sale of livestock depends on the type of animal and the size of the farm. Small farms typically sell by auction, on contract, and through cooperatives, brokers, or dealers. Many large farming operations contract directly with packers, basing prices on the expected quantity, weight, and quality of the animal. To increase leverage when selling products or buying supplies, many farmers and ranchers are members of cooperatives.
Farmers generally concentrate on selling, not marketing. Producers may market through trade shows, local magazines, or trade publications. Small “ag tourism” farms often advertise in travel publications and within the local community. Online sales are generally limited to small and specialty farms. Most market and trading prices are readily available online.
Standing timber is sold through a variety of contractual arrangements. Buyers are local or regional mills, either independent or owned by integrated wood products companies. Owners sell timber through stumpage sales or timber auctions. Stumpage prices (prices for standing timber) are usually quoted as dollar per ton or as dollar per thousand board feet (mbf).
Local prices are influenced by property location, proximity to mills, accessibility (roads), logging conditions, tree size and quality and species, and the amount of timber per acre. Logs may be sold directly to sawmills or to brokers.
Competitive Landscape
Demand is driven by government agricultural policy programs, food consumption trends, and lumber demand. Profitability depends on efficient operations. Large companies have advantages in vertically integrated operations and economies of scale in purchasing and marketing. Small operations can compete effectively by supplying local markets, specializing in heirloom or organic crops or those that have not been genetically modified (GM), or raising animals in less restrictive environments on hormone-free diets.
Cash flow from agriculture and forestry operations is typically uneven throughout the year, particularly for highly perishable crops. Livestock operators typically only receive revenue when animals are sold. Because timber takes many years to regenerate, owners of large timberlands usually harvest only a portion at a time. In addition to annual variations, cash flow can be uneven because of seasonal harvesting difficulties and the variable demand for timber that flows from the seasonal real estate construction.
For US crop farmers, fertilizer, soil conditioning, and agricultural chemicals, as well as labor costs make up a significant amount of production costs, depending on the crop. Farmers often rely on commodity futures contracts to hedge against increased raw materials costs. Feed and livestock purchases are the largest expense for livestock farmers.
Regulation
Every five years, the US Farm Bill authorizes and sets agricultural price support policies, which are managed by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA). FSA supports the prices of some crops, including corn, soybeans, wheat, and cotton, by making non-recourse crop loans and, under poor market conditions, forgiving a portion of the principal and interest. Federal subsidies to corn and soybean farmers can increase feed prices paid by livestock operators. If market prices are low, the government may make Loan Deficiency Payments (LDPs) to farmers instead of loans. Crop loans also allow farmers to keep their crops off the market until price conditions improve.
The activities of timber companies are regulated in various ways by federal and state governments. Logging operations are subject to?safety regulations?of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Logging is a particularly dangerous profession, although the increasing use of mechanized harvesters has reduced injury rates. Logging is also subject to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations, because it often contaminates streams with soil and debris.
Because of its large timberland holdings, the US federal government can affect the supply of timber. Most important for timber prices, the federal government can impose import tariffs and quotas on foreign timber producers, most importantly Canada.
Location Specific Industry Data :
COUNTRY | STATE/REGION | CITY/TOWN/LOCATION | INDUSTRY OVERVIEW | HUMAN RESOURCES | PRODUCTIVITY | MARKET | FINANCE | NOTES | ACTIONS |
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United States | California and Midwestern States | Most of high output US Agriculture is concentrated around California and the Midwestern States | Leading Global Producer of Soybean, Cow Milk, Blueberries, Turkey Meat, Almonds and Sawn Wood | University of California-Davis, Cornell University, University of California-Berkeley, | The level of U.S. farm output grows at an average annual rate of 1.53% | US Agricultural Exports were valued at $140 billion in 2018. Imports grew to $129 billion. | Agriculture and food related industries contributed $1.053 trillion to US (GD) | Notes Agric | EDIT |COPY |DELETE |
United Kingdom | NA | Drumchardine | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
United States | IL | Harvey | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Italy | KR | Mesoraca | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Switzerland | NA | Lully | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Austria | BURGENLAND | Penken | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Austria | LOWER AUSTRIA | Pingendorf | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Austria | BURGENLAND | Hatzing | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
United States | KY | Elizabethtown | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Austria | UPPER AUSTRIA | Kollrossdorf | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Germany | SN | Bautzen | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
United States | FL | Fort Lauderdale | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Austria | BURGENLAND | Krottendorf | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Poland | NA | Katowice | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
United Kingdom | NA | Galltair | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Austria | UPPER AUSTRIA | Kaiseredt | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
United Kingdom | NA | Penruddock | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
France | CENTRE | Saint-Ouen | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Austria | UPPER AUSTRIA | Komas | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
United States | FL | Feather Sound | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Australia | NT | Jay Creek | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Austria | BURGENLAND | Marchtring | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
France | AQUITAINE | Villenave-D\'ornon | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Italy | VI | Salcedo | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Netherlands | NH | Wormerveer | EDIT |COPY |DELETE | ||||||
Austria | UPPER AUSTRIA | Tal | EDIT |COPY |DELETE |