Seeing as it is National Agriculture Week, thought I would share with ya’ll a little about Arkansas Agriculture. We may not be at the top of the lists for every sector of Agriculture, but I like to think we make an impact.
When I ask what comes to mind when others think of Arkansas Agriculture, responses often include Tyson (chicken) and our Hogs (University of Arkansas Razorbacks). True, we have those, but there is so much more to Agriculture in the Natural State.
The Basics…
- 49,100 farms in the state
- 281 acres is average farm size (54% being less than 100 acres)
- 44.5% of Arkansas farmers claim Agriculture as the primary occupation
- $8,009,774 Annual Agriculture Output (2009)
- 23,334 acres devoted to organic Agriculture production
Top 5 Arkansas Agriculture Commodities (% of AR production, % of U.S. production)
- Broilers (36.7%, 12.1%)
- Rice (17.1%, 40.5%)
- Soybean (16.4%, 3.9%)
- Cattle (6.1%, 1.0%)
- Eggs (5.0%, 5.9%)
Top 5 Arkansas Agriculture Exports (U.S. Rank)
- Rice (No.1)
- Soybean (No.10)
- Poultry Products (No.2)
- Cotton (No.3)
- Wheat (No.31)
- Overall (No.14)
Forestry is a large part of the Arkansas economy with 54% (18.5 million acres) of Arkansas land committed to forests, providing 33,259 jobs for Arkansans
Beef cattle production is also a large part of Arkansas Agriculture. Arkansas ranks No.17 in cow/calf production with 1.8 million head of beef cattle. In the state, there are 30,000 cattle farms with an average of 29 head per operation. 5.77 million acres within the state are committed to pasture and hay production.
Maybe you already knew some of these facts about Arkansas Agriculture, or maybe you learned something new today. Either way I hope you take the initiative to learn more about Agriculture and food production within your state and take the opportunity to suppot local farmers and ranchers. We’re one of the few stable parts of this roller coaster economy.
Learn more about Agriculture in your state on my States, Stamps, and AgFacts page.
