Top Pennsylvania Agriculture Facts From the 2024 Census of Agriculture
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From milk to mushrooms, Pennsylvania agriculture produces many important commodities for the state and nation, and the ag industry significantly contributes to the Pennsylvania economy. According to the USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, there are 49,053 farms in Pennsylvania with a market value of agricultural products sold totaling nearly $10.3 billion. (The 2022 Census of Agriculture data was released in February 2024 and is the most recent census data available.)
The number of farms in Pennsylvania has decreased by 8% since 2017 and by 16% since 2002. However, there are still more than 7 million acres of farm land in Pennsylvania, and the state’s average farm size is 144 acres.
The market value of crops grown in Pennsylvania, including nursery and greenhouse crops, totaled nearly $3.5 billion in 2022. The market value of livestock, poultry and their products, including beef, pork, chicken, dairy and eggs, came to almost $6.8 billion.
What Are Pennsylvania’s Top Agricultural Products?
According to the most recent available cash receipts (the total amount of crops or livestock sold in a calendar year), Pennsylvania’s top agricultural products include milk and other dairy products, chicken eggs, broilers (chickens raised for meat), corn, cattle and calves, and mushrooms, to name a few.
See More: Pennsylvania Agriculture
Who Owns Pennsylvania Farms?
The Census of Agriculture calculates farm ownership by the farm’s legal status for tax purposes. Like many states, Pennsylvania farms are primarily owned and operated by families or individuals, with 42,023 family farms as of 2022, or about 85.7% of all farms in the state. Partnerships account for 3,568 farms, or 7.3%, while corporations own just over 2,800 farms, or 5.8%. Other farms, such as estates or trusts, prison farms, grazing associations, American Indian Reservations, etc., make up about 1.2% of farms in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania farmers are predominantly men. According to the Census of Agriculture, there were 58,897 male farmers in Pennsylvania in 2022, making up 65% of the state’s total producers. Pennsylvania’s 31,135 women farmers accounted for 35% of the total.
See More: What’s In Season? Pennsylvania Produce Calendar
How Old Are Pennsylvania Farmers?
Out of 90,032 farmers in Pennsylvania, most are over the age of 55. In fact, the average age of a Pennsylvania farmer is 55.4 years old, up from 54.8 years in 2017.
Just under a quarter of Pennsylvania farmers (around 23.9%) fall into the age group of 55 to 64 years, and 21.8% of farmers are ages 65 to 74. Farmers ranging from 45 to 54 years old account for 15.9%, followed by farmers ages 35 to 44 (14.7%), then farmers age 75 or older (11%). Only 9.7% of farmers are ages 25 to 34, and just 2,653 Pennsylvania farmers are under 25, or about 3%.
More Pennsylvania Farm Facts
Though the state counts more than 90,000 agricultural producers, 55% of Pennsylvania farmers have a primary occupation other than farming. Only about 40,500 respondents to the Census of Agriculture said their primary occupation was farming.
Active duty military members and veterans also account for some farmers, as Pennsylvania has 6,058 farmers with current or past military service.
See More: What’s In Season? Pennsylvania Produce Calendar
According to the census, there are 92 Black farmers in Pennsylvania who farm 4,273 acres of land across 81 farms.
Pennsylvania is home to 906 USDA-certified organic farms, down from 1,055 in 2017.
Pennsylvania’s dairy cattle inventory totaled 455,651 in 2022.
In 2022, Pennsylvania counted 24,448 new and beginning producers, up from 23,106 in 2017.
Pennsylvania had 51,500 colonies of honey bees in 2022, up from 26,169 in 2017.
In 2022, Pennsylvania farmers grew more than 19 million square feet of mushrooms, contributing to the state’s rank as the No. 1 mushroom producer in the nation.
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