We spend a lot of time talking about farm machinery, crop production, agricultural best practices, etc., so we thought it would be a good idea to take a step back and take a look at some eye-popping agriculture statistics that relate directly to agriculture production, farming, and agricultural equipment.

We’ve compiled a list of 15 statistics that put agriculture in perspective through numbers; take a look and enjoy!

Looking broadly at our farms and land…

• There are more than 3 million farmers in America, more than the total population of Iowa
• American producers sell $297 billion in goods, enough to pay every college student’s tuition for 3 years
• The average farm is 418 acres
• The vast majority of farms in this country (87%) are owned and operated by individuals or families
• About 60% of the farmers in this country are 55 years old or older

What we find on our farms…

• The United States is by far the largest producer of corn in the world, producing 32% of the world’s corn crop in the early 2010s
• Corn is grown on over 400,000 U.S. farms
• Corn grown for grain accounts for almost one quarter of the harvested crop acres in this country
• If U.S. farmers in 1931 wanted to equivalently yield the same amount of corn as farmers in 2008, the 1931 farmers would need an additional 490 million acres
• Over 279,110 farms in the U.S. produce soybeans making the U.S. the largest producer and exporter of soybeans, accounting for over 50% of the world’s soybean production
• The U.S. produces about 10% of the world’s wheat

A look at the machines we use on our farms…

• The global market for Agricultural Implements and Machinery is projected to reach $122.9 billion by 2017
• Farm tractors, the largest product segment in 2011, represented 30% of all agricultural machinery sales
• Plowing and cultivating machinery is expected to be the fastest growing product type from 2011 to 2016, expanding 9.1% per year
• Deere dominates the $23 billion U.S.-Canada market for farm equipment with a 60% share

Agriculture plays a major role in the American economy, and United States producers work year in and year out to help in providing food for the growing population. We hope you enjoyed these stats; feel free to share this post or any additional stats that you find interesting by connecting with us on Facebook!