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What Is This Indicator, and Why Is It Important? This indicator reports the dollar value of the annual output of major crops and livestock. The value is determined by multiplying the amount of output by the prices received by farmers (in 2003 dollars). The data are presented both nationally over time and by location for the most recent year available (in this case, 2003). Farming is a business, and the monetary value of the goods produced is an indication of the importance to society of those goods. In addition, some areas have high concentrations of agriculture or produce high-value crops (or both). In these areas, farming is often a significant component of the local economy. What Do the Data Show? The gross value of agricultural output (adjusted for inflation) was about $235 billion in 2004, or about 28% more than in 1950. Over this half-century, however, there were major fluctuations––from a low of about $160 billion in 1957 to a high of about $290 billion in in 1973; from 2002-2004, agricultural sales increased by about $35 billion. Livestock products consistently account for about half of overall agricultural income. Agricultural production is concentrated in the Midwest, but there are concentrations of very high agricultural sales in many areas across the country. Discussion Advances over the last 50 years have enabled farmers to produce more per acre of land (see Major Crop Yields) and to increase total physical outputs, while requiring, in general, fewer inputs (see Agriculture Inputs and Outputs). However, as shown here, these advances have not translated into steadily increasing farm sales. Note that the values reported here are gross revenues, meant to represent the value of the harvest from croplands—they reveal nothing about the profitability of American farming. This indicator also reports the money received by farmers, not the retail price of farm products. Finally, these data do not include agricultural income support or other government payments. |
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