ix listen-blowing facts nigh the United states of america farming manufacture

Farmer corn field

Jim Young/Reuters
  • The United states of america farming industry contributes more than $100 billion to the U.s.a. economy.
  • Merely the farming industry is being threatened by climate modify, trade wars, and a irresolute workforce.
  • Read on for nine surprising facts about the The states farming industry.
  • Visit MarketsInsider.com for more stories.

The US farming industry is in a massive land of transition.

Factors such as extreme atmospheric condition events caused past climate change and loss of arable land acquired past development threaten the food supply, while the number of people in the farming industry has been slowly declining for decades.

Meanwhile, tariff wars telephone call into question the financial viability of major crops like soybeans, America's No. 1 food export .

But farming is too experiencing rapid innovation. Smart technology is non only changing what it means to piece of work in agriculture, just also how Americans interact with their food on a daily ground.

Read on for nine surprising facts nigh the U.s. farming manufacture.

Agriculture's $ane.053 trillion contribution to the US economy is higher than the Gross domestic product of Indonesia

Farmer Dan Roberts inspects his corn ingather during the harvest in Minooka, Illinois.
Jim Immature/Reuters

Agronomics supplied $1.053 trillion to the U.s.a. gross domestic production in 2017 , which would make it the 16th largest economy in the globe if treated as its own country, sandwiched between Mexico and Indonesia.

While farming alone contributed $132.eight billion to the US economic system, the industry's reach extends far beyond the soil. From the leather ottoman you recently acquired to the IPA calling your name at the bar, countless products and industries rely on agricultural inputs to contribute value to the economic system.

While there are more than 2 million farms across the US, farmers and ranchers make upwardly just i.3% of the labor strength.

Tim Richter correct, walks past workers on a tractor as they constitute romaine lettuce at the EG Richter Family Subcontract in Puyallup, Washington.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

While farmland may stretch far and wide, farmers and ranchers themselves make up but 1.3% of the employed U.s. population, totaling around 2.six million people.

Today, there are nigh two 1000000 farms in operation in the U.s.a., a steep decline from 1935, when the number of farms peaked at most seven million.

Meanwhile, dorsum in 1840, workers in the agriculture industry made up lxx% of the American workforce.

The local food market in the US is expected to hit $twenty.2 billion, nearly doubling from 2014 to 2019

Flickr / George Kelly

In 2017, global market research company Mintel constitute "widespread mistrust" amidst consumers in how food is made.

Is it safe? Ethical? Natural and environmentally friendly?

This mistrust has helped conductor in support for farmers' markets and growing food at home. It'south also increased the need for traceability, or the ability to to runway every step in the process of food product.

Over 50,000 jobs in agriculture are available per year in the US, yet there aren't enough qualified graduates to fill the spots.

Justin Sullivan/Getty

Jobs in agriculture don't necessarily take identify in a field. New hires may find themselves in a lab, an role or mayhap even an open up-concept coworking space.

Read more:13 mind-blowing facts about Florida'southward economic system

Co-ordinate to CareerAddict, some of the well-nigh lucrative positions available in the field include agronomical economists, who forecast trends and advise clients for an boilerplate of $105,000 per twelvemonth, and agronomical lawyers, who handle cases dealing with proper land utilize, environmental protection and labor laws for an average of $115,820 per year.

In the near time to come, you lot'll exist able to scan the sticker on an apple tree and trace its history

Getty Images

According to agricultural science company Corteva, new technology powered by the Internet of Things has the ability to trace the journey taken by a single piece of fruit or stalk of celery on its way to the grocery shop.

The smart labels are meant to assuage fears consumers may have well-nigh where their nutrient comes from. They likewise target consumers who predominantly shop at local farmers' markets and want to brand sure the food they pick up at the store doesn't conduct a significant carbon footprint.

41% of the contiguous United states is used to feed livestock. That's 800 one thousand thousand acres, roughly the size of India

Mark Rightmire/Digital First Media/Orange County Annals via Getty Images

A written report past Bloomberg found that while US agricultural country takes up 391 one thousand thousand acres — a fifth of the country in the 48 contiguous states — simply 77.3 meg of those acres are used to grow the nutrient nosotros eat, while 800 million acres go toward feeding cows and other livestock. That makes up 41% of the contiguous US, and is roughly equal to the size of India.

For comparing, the same report found that urban areas fabricated upward only 3.6% of the total size of the 48 contiguous states.

Once a place to talk shop, #AgTwitter has helped curb depression among farmers

Nir Elias/Reuters

According to PBS NewsHour, rural areas have had some of the highest suicide rates of any geographic area in the United States, and suicide rates among farmers and agricultural workers really outnumbered homicide rates between 1992 and 2010.

While stigma around treatment and a lack of mental health professionals in the area doesn't exactly assist, many take been able to find support on Twitter.

Mike Pearson, a farmer who uses the customs, told PBS that the #AgTwitter customs lacks the "toxic negativity" of political Twitter and has been a source of both information and support.

Bargain icon An icon in the shape of a lightning commodities.

Proceed reading