Total U.S. cropland area outlook 2012-2028

The total area of cropland in the United States has not changed significantly over the last several years, with only a slight decrease from 257.4 million acres in 2012 to around 253.7 million acres in 2018. The largest decrease in area during that time period occurred between 2014 and 2015.

Crop Diversity in the United States

A significant portion of the United States economy is rooted in agriculture. As a large country with a diverse and varied climate, the United States is perfectly suited to producing a huge variety of crops. For instance, much of the tobacco produced in the United States originates from North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia. However, when it comes to fresh vegetables, California had by far the highest production volume of any U.S. state as of 2018.

Facts about U.S. Farms

As the largest state in the continental United States, Texas also has the highest number of farms of any U.S. state, at 248 thousand in 2018. Missouri came in second place at 95 thousand farms in that year. Operating and maintaining a farm in the United States is labor intensive, with many different costs and expenses that must be considered in order to keep the farm profitable. As of 2017, around 15.3 percent of total farm production expenditure was attributed to animal feed.