Did you know agriculture plays a big part in every state? From the California to the New York island, agriculture is there. Check out these 50 facts about each state.
- Alabama’s top row crop is cotton. Peaches are the leading fruit.
- Alaska harvested 62% of the commercial seafood in 2007.
- Each year, Arizona grows enough cotton to make more than 1 pair of jeans for everyone in the United States.
- Arkansas is the largest producer of rice in the United States, producing about 50% of the nation’s rice.
- California produces over 350 crops, making it the top agriculture state for more than 50 years
- Colorado is home to over 32,000 bee colonies, which produces 1.5 million pounds of honey each year.
- Connecticut has more than 70,000 acres of shellfish farms, which harvest 450,000 bushels of hard clams and 200,000 bushels of oysters each year.
- Delaware’s number one crop is corn, soybeans come in second.
- Florida produces about 95% of commercial orange products.
- Georgia should be called the peanut state since it produces nearly half of the peanuts in the United States.
- Hawaii is ranked 6th for tree nuts. About 27% of the state’s total land is farmland.
- Not surprising, Idaho is ranked first for potato production, but is ranked top 10 for 26 different crops and livestock.
- Illinois produces enough corn annually to fill a train of box cars that stretches more than 7,600 miles.
- Indiana leads in duck production.
- Iowa leads in hog and egg production. About 1/3 of hogs raised in the United States comes from Iowa.
- Kansas produced about 2.4 billion pounds of milk in 2009
- Kentucky produces over 262 million pounds of burley tobacco annually.
- Louisiana is the only source of Tabasco pepper. The state’s fishing industry also produces 25% of all U.S. seafood.
- Maine is the world’s leader in wild blueberries
- Maryland’s farmland takes about 40% of the state.
- Massachusetts has about 150 remaining dairy farms, which is the state’s 5th highest agriculture output.
- Michigan leads in tart cherry production. In 2014 the state produced 66% of the nation’s tart cherries
- Minnesota is the lead producer in turkeys in the United States
- Mississippi produced over a million bushels of cotton in 2017.
- Missouri ranks 2nd in the nation in number of beef cows.
- Montana ranks 4th in honey production.
- Nebraska contains about 9 million laying hen, which produce over 3 billion eggs annually.
- Nevada’s leading agricultural industry is range livestock.
- New Hampshire produces an average of 130, 000 gallons of maple syrup a year from 500,000 taps.
- New Jersey produces over 100 varieties of fruits and vegetables.
- About 98% of New Mexico ranches are family owned, which have been handed down from multiple generations.
- New York ranks 2nd in apples and 3rd in wine and juice grapes.
- North Carolina is ranked first in the nation for flue-cured tobacco and sweet potatoes.
- North Dakota has about 1.7 million head of cattle, 160,000 pigs, and 88,000 sheep.
- Ohio leads in Swiss cheese production in the United States.
- Oklahoma ranks 2nd in beef cows and has about 5 million cattle.
- Oregon ranks second in the nation for peppermint, sweet cherries, and hops production.
- Pennsylvania produces about 65% of the mushrooms in the United States.
- Rhode Island’s top agricultural commodities are greenhouse products, dairy products, sweet corn, aquaculture, and apples.
- South Carolina has the only tea farm in North America
- South Dakota averages about 3 million acres of planted wheat each year. The state produces 3 different types of wheat.
- Tennessee ranks 2nd in hardwood and 3rd in tobacco, with cattle, broilers, soybeans, corn, and greenhouse products being the state’s top agricultural commodities.
- Texas is first in the nation in cattle, cotton, milk, broilers, and greenhouse/nursery products.
- Utah is 2nd in tart cherries and 8th in sweet cherries. The state is also ranked 3rd in apricots.
- Vermont produces about 36% of the United States output of maple syrup.
- Virginia has a the most diverse agriculture production in the United States. This is due to the state’s varying geography and climate.
- Washington is the top apple producer in the United States.
- West Virginia top crop is hay grown for the state’s livestock.
- Wisconsin ranks first in dairy goats in the United States.
- Wyoming’s livestock industry is the largest agricultural component in the state’s economy.
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Sources:
Agclassroom.org
Mississippi Department of Agriculture
Texas Department of Agriculture
Farm Bureau of Arkansas
Colorado Proud
Connecticut Department of Agriculture