Agriculture is a major industry in the United States, which is a net exporter of food."Latest U.S. Agricultural Trade Data." USDA Economic Research Service. Ed. Stephen MacDonald. USDA, 6 Sept. 2018. As of the 2022 census of agriculture, there were 1.9 million farms (down 6.9% from 2017), covering an area of 880.1 million acres, an average of 463 acres per farm.

Agricultural activity is particularly concentrated in the Central Valley of California and the Great Plains. The Great Plains are a vast expanse of flat arable land in the center of the nation covering an area west of the Great Lakes and east of the Rocky Mountains. The eastern wetter half is a major corn- and soybean-producing region known as the Corn Belt, and the western drier half is known as the Wheat Belt because of its high rate of wheat production.Hatfield, J., 2012: Agriculture in the Midwest. In: U.S. National Climate Assessment Midwest Technical Input Report . J. Winkler, J. Andresen, J. Hatfield, D. Bidwell, and D. Brown, coordinators. Available from the Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments (GLISA) Center The Central Valley of California produces fruits, vegetables, and nuts. The American South has historically been a large producer of cotton, tobacco, and rice, but it has declined in agricultural production over the past century. California leads the nation in citrus production and is the number two producer of oranges in the world behind only Brazil.

The U.S. has led developments in seed improvement, such as hybridization, and in expanding uses for crops from the work of George Washington Carver to bioplastics and biofuels. The mechanization of farming and intensive farming have been major themes in U.S. history, including John Deere's steel plow, Cyrus McCormick's mechanical reaper, Eli Whitney's cotton gin, and the widespread success of the Fordson tractor and the combine harvester. Modern agriculture in the U.S. ranges from hobby farms and small-scale producers to large commercial farms that cover thousands of acres of cropland or rangeland.

History

Corn, turkeys, tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, and sunflower seeds constitute some of the major holdovers from the agricultural endowment of the Americas.

Colonists had more access to land in the colonial United States than they did in Europe. The organization of labor was complex, including free persons, slaves and indentured servants depending on the regions where either slaves or poor landless laborers were available to work on family farms.Cathy D. Matson, The Economy of Early America, p. 28

European agricultural practices greatly affected the New England landscape. Colonists brought livestock over from Europe which caused many changes to the land. Grazing animals required a lot of land and food and the act of grazing itself destroyed native grasses, which were being replaced by European species. New species of weeds were introduced and began to thrive as they were capable of withstanding the grazing of animals, whereas native species could not.Cronon, William. Changes in the Land : Indians, Colonists, and the Ecology of New England. New York: Hill & Wang, 2003.

The practices associated with keeping livestock also contributed to the deterioration of the forests and fields. Colonists would cut down the trees and then allow their cattle and livestock to graze freely in the forest and never plant more trees. The animals trampled and tore up the ground so much as to cause long-term destruction and damage.

Soil exhaustion was a major problem in New England agriculture. While farming with oxen allowed colonists to farm more land, it increased erosion and decreased soil fertility. This was due to deeper plow cuts in the soil that allowed the soil more contact with oxygen causing nutrient depletion. In grazing fields in New England, the soil was being compacted by the large number of cattle and this did not give the soil enough oxygen to sustain life.

In the United States, farms spread from the colonies westward along with the settlers. In cooler regions, wheat was often the crop of choice when lands were newly settled, leading to a "wheat frontier" that moved westward over the course of years. Also very common in the antebellum Midwest was farming corn while raising hogs, complementing each other especially since it was difficult to get grain to market before the canals and railroads. After the "wheat frontier" had passed through an area, more diversified farms including dairy cattle generally took its place. Warmer regions saw plantings of cotton and herds of beef cattle. In the early colonial South, raising tobacco and cotton was common, especially through the use of slave labor until the Civil War. With an established source for labor, and the development of the cotton gin in 1793, the South was able to maintain an economy based on the production of cotton. By the late 1850s, the South produced 100% of the 374 million pounds of cotton used in the United States. The rapid growth in cotton production was possible because of the availability of slaves. In the northeast, slaves were used in agriculture until the early 19th century. In the Midwest, slavery was prohibited by the Freedom Ordinance of 1787.

The introduction and broad adoption of scientific agriculture since the mid-19th century contributed to economic growth in the United States. This development was facilitated by the Morrill Act and the Hatch Act of 1887 which established in each state a land-grant university (with a mission to teach and study agriculture) and a federally funded system of agricultural experiment stations and cooperative extension networks which place extension agents in each state.

Soybeans were not widely cultivated in the United States until the early 1930s, and by 1942 it became the world's largest soybean producer, due in part to World War II and the "need for domestic sources of fats, oils, and meal". Between 1930 and 1942, the United States' share of world soybean production grew from 3% to 47%, and by 1969 it had risen to 76%. By 1973, soybeans were the United States' "number one cash crop, and leading export commodity, ahead of both wheat and corn". Although soybeans developed as the top cash crop, corn also remains as an important commodity. As the basis for "industrial food," corn is found in most modern day items at the grocery store. Aside from items like candy and soda, which contain high-fructose corn syrup, corn is also found in non-edible items like the shining wax on store advertisements.

Significant areas of farmland were abandoned during the Great Depression and incorporated into nascent national forests. Later, "Sodbuster" and "Swampbuster" restrictions written into federal farm programs starting in the 1970s reversed a decades-long trend of habitat destruction that began in 1942 when farmers were encouraged to plant all possible land in support of the war effort. In the United States, federal programs administered through local Soil and Water Conservation Districts provide technical assistance and partial funding to farmers who wish to implement management practices to conserve soil and limit erosion and floods.Schapsmeier, Edward L; and Frederick H. Schapsmeier. Encyclopedia of American agricultural history (1975) online

Farmers in the early United States were open to planting new crops, raising new animals and adopting new innovations as increased agricultural productivity in turn increased the demand for shipping services, containers, credit, storage, and the like.Cathy D. Matson, The Economy of Early America, p. 27

Although four million farms disappeared in the United States between 1948 and 2015, the total output from the farms that remained more than doubled. The number of farms with more than almost doubled between 1987 and 2012, while the number of farms with to fell over the same period by 44%."'They're Trying to Wipe Us Off the Map.' Small American Farmers Are Nearing Extinction" – Time, November 27, 2019

Farm productivity increased in the United States from the mid-20th century until the late-20th century when productivity began to stall.

From 1986 to 2018 about 30 million acres of cropland were abandoned.

Production + Agricultural rankings as of 2018 Crop Ranking Output (000 tons)Notes Corn 1 by far 392,000 Soy 2 123,600surpassed by Brazil in 2020 Wheat 4 51,200 behind China, India, and Russia Sugar beets 3 30,000 behind Russia, and France Sugar cane 10 31,300 Potatoes 5 20,600 behind China, India, Russia, and Ukraine Tomatoes 3 12,600 behind China and India Cotton 3 11,400 behind China and India Rice 12 10,100 Sorghum 1 9,200 Grapes 3 6,800 behind China and Italy Oranges 4 4,800 behind Brazil, China, and India Apples 2 4,600 behind China Lettuce and Chicory 2 3,600behind China Barley 3,300 Onions 3 3,200 behind China and India Peanuts 3 2,400 behind China and India Almonds 1 1,800 Beans 1,700 Watermelons 1,700 Rapeseed1,600 Carrots 3 1,500 behind China and Uzbekistan Strawberries 2 1,300 behind China Cauliflower and Broccoli 3 1,200 behind China and India Sunflower seeds 960 Oats 10 814 Lemons 8 812 Tangerines 804 Pears 3 730 behind China and Italy Green peas 3 722 behind China and India Peaches 6 700 Walnuts 2 613 behind China Pistachios 2 447 behind Iran Lentils 3 381 behind Canada and India Spinach 2 384 behind China Plums 4 368 behind China, Romania, and Serbia Tobacco 4 241 behind China, Brazil, and India In addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products, such as melon (872), pumpkin (683), grapefruit (558), cranberry (404), cherry (312), blueberry (255), rye (214), olive (138), and others.

Major agricultural products

Tonnes of United States agricultural production, as reported by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the U.N. in 2003 and 2013 (ranked roughly in order of value):

Millions of Tonnes in 2003 2013Corn 256.0 354.0Cattle meat 12.0 11.7Cow's milk, whole, fresh 77.0 91.0Chicken meat 14.7 17.4Soybeans 67.0 89.0Pig meat 9.1 10.5Wheat 64.0 58.0Cotton lint 4.0 2.8Hen eggs 5.2 5.6Turkey meat 2.5 2.6Tomatoes 11.4 12.6Potatoes 20.8 19.8Grapes 5.9 7.7Oranges 10.4 7.6Rice, paddy 9.1 8.6Apples 3.9 4.1Sorghum 10.4 9.9Lettuce 4.7 3.6Cottonseed 6.0 5.6Sugar beets 30.7 29.8

Other crops appearing in the top 20 at some point in the last 40 years were: tobacco, barley, and oats, and, rarely: peanuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds. Alfalfa and hay would both be in the top ten in 2003 if they were tracked by FAO.

Crops

Value of production

Major Crops in the U.S. 1997(in US$ billions) 2014(in US$ billions)Corn $24.4 $52.3Soybeans $17.7 $40.3Wheat $8.6 $11.9Alfalfa $8.3 $10.8Cotton $6.1 $5.1Hay, (non-Alfalfa) $5.1 $8.4Tobacco $3.0 $1.8Rice $1.7 $3.1Sorghum $1.4 $1.7Barley $0.9 $0.9 Source1997 USDANASS reports,2015 USDA-NASS reports,

Note: alfalfa and hay are not tracked by the FAO, and the production of tobacco in the United States has fallen by 60% between 1997 and 2003.

Yield Heavily mechanized, U.S. agriculture has a high yield relative to other countries. As of 2004: 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)

Livestock

The major livestock industries in the United States: Dairy cattle Beef cattle Pig Poultry Seafood Sheep

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