8#while-there-are-more-than-2-million-farms-across-the-us-farmers-and-ranchers-make-up-just-1-3-of-the-labor-force-2″>In 1935, the number of farms peaked at almost 7 million. By 2007, that number had dropped to
That
number has dropped off slightly today
.
COVID-19 has put additional pressure on an already strained industry: In March 2020, farm bankruptcies jumped by 23%. Issues have included breakdowns in the supply chain and the closures of processing plants, wreaking havoc on farms around the country. To find out more about this complex and essential industry, Stacker compiled a gallery of 50 facts about U.S. farming. We’ve relied on authoritative sources that include the American Farm Bureau Federation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and industry and trade groups.
In 1870, about half of all Americans had jobs in agriculture, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Today, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reports that farmworkers comprise less than 1% of salary workers in the U.S. Nevertheless, production is still huge. U.S. farmers raise hundreds of millions of egg-laying hens, harvest millions of tons of fruits and vegetables, and keep the rest of the world supplied with corn, wheat, and soybeans. A single acre of land can grow 50,000 pounds of strawberries or 3,000 pounds of wheat, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation; and in 2018 alone, $139.6 billion worth of U.S. agricultural products were exported around the world.
Keep reading to find more fascinating information about farming in the United States.
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