With food on everyone’s mind this holiday season, a recent analysis shows the importance of domestic agriculture production.
While the U.S. food system is supported by global trade, the vast majority of what Americans eat is still grown or raised at home. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, imports account for less than 20% of U.S. food and beverage spending, underscoring the central role of domestic agriculture in feeding the nation.
These details come from Farm Flavor, a company that provides news and information about the agriculture industry. It uses the latest federal data to examine agricultural productivity across the country, highlighting regional differences in what is grown and where. It explores trends in agricultural output, identifies the predominant products in different areas, and ranks the nation’s top agricultural states and counties based on the total market value of goods produced.
U.S. agricultural productivity over time
As an example, between 1961 and 2022, total agricultural output increased by nearly 2.5 times, while total inputs rose by just 17%. As a result, total factor productivity — a measure of output relative to input — has steadily climbed, indicating that American farmers are producing more food with fewer additional resources. These gains have helped meet the demands of a growing population while keeping food relatively affordable — even as total farmland has declined by roughly 25% over the same period.
At the county level, a cluster of high-performing agricultural hubs is concentrated in California’s Central Valley. Fresno County, the nation’s top agricultural county, generated over $7.7 billion in agricultural sales in the most recent year, led by fruit and nut production. Nearby Tulare County follows closely with more than $7 billion in output, driven by dairy.
Other top-producing counties like Monterey, Kern and Merced also specialize in high-value crops such as fruits, vegetables and milk. Notably, California is home to all but one of the nation’s top 10 agricultural counties.
Outside of California, major counties include Grant and Yakima counties in Washington, known for fruit production; Weld County, Colorado, and Sioux County, Iowa, both leading in cattle and livestock; and Sampson County, North Carolina, a national leader in hog farming.
These counties stand out not just for the scale of production, but also for how deeply agriculture is embedded in their local economies — in some cases accounting for over 20% of total employment and more than 90% of all land use, the report said.
How does Utah figure in?
In terms of agricultural production, the state is a mixed bag.
The report shows the following Utah numbers:
- Market value of agricultural products sold: $2,586,964,662
- Share of total U.S. agricultural value: 0.4%
- Most valuable agricultural products: milk from cows
- Crop sales: $793,033,059
- Livestock and other animal product sales: $1,793,931,603
- Number of farms: 17,386
- Agriculture share of total land area: 20.0%
Hannah Hill, author of the report, noted the role Utah plays.
“While Utah is not a national leader in overall agricultural production, agriculture remains a major industry in the state and a key economic driver for many rural communities,” she said.
“Beaver and Millard counties, for example, are two of Utah’s largest agricultural hubs, where farming and ranching jobs make up about 6.5% and 10.2% of total employment. Livestock and dairy are especially important sectors in Utah, supported in part by the fact that roughly three-quarters of land in the state is public, much of which is used for grazing.”
There is some disagreement about the Utah numbers.
A quick search of some USDA data from 2022 showed that cattle and calves were Utah’s most valuable commodity, raking in $628 million. Dairy was at $552 million, and hay was third at $407 million.
The simple story is Utah’s vital role in agricultural production.
“We live in an amazing state, and that’s only matched by the hard-working farm and ranch families that work to produce food for the rest of us. Despite a rapidly urbanizing state, you can find agriculture everywhere. From the vast grazing lands where our cattle and sheep turn grasses into valuable protein and clothing, to our dairy farms, fruit orchards, and hay and grain crops,” said ValJay Rigby, president of the Utah Farm Bureau Federation.
“There’s a little of everything here in Utah, but we need to make sure we’re supporting our local farmers through our wallets and through sound policies from elected officials from the local level up to the halls of Congress.”