National Agriculture Week is March 16-22

Date of release: 3/14/2008

Facts and Figures

More than three million people farm or ranch in the United States. Individuals, family partnerships or family corporations operate almost 99 percent of U.S. farms. Over 22 million people are employed in farm or farm-related jobs, including production agriculture, farm inputs, processing and marketing and wholesale and retail sales.

According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, 50 percent of the farmers are 55 years of age or older, up only three percent from 1997. Average age of the principal operator is 55.3.

Forty-one percent of U.S. total land area is farmland (938.28 million acres). In 1900, the average farm size was 147 acres, compared to 441 acres today.

The top five agricultural commodities are cattle and calves, dairy products, broilers, corn and soybeans. U.S. farmers produce 46% of the world’s soybeans, 41% of the world’s corn, 20.5% of the world’s cotton and 13% of the world’s wheat.

Farmers and ranchers are independent business people who provide for their families by growing and producing food and fiber. They use modern production techniques to increase the quality and quantity of the food they produce. In the 1960s one farmer supplied food for 25.8 persons in the U.S. and abroad. Today, one farmer supplies food for 144 people in the U.S. and abroad.

For more visit the National Agriculture Day Web site at www.agday.org.

Oklahoma Commodities By Rank:

*Based on most recent agricultural statistics (2006) compiled by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

Land in Farms

In 2006, there were 83,000 farms in Oklahoma with 33.7 million acres in farm land. The state ranks fifth in the nation in number of farms, and ninth in land acreage.

Helpful Agricultural Links

Beef Cattle:
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association: www.beefusa.org
Cattlemen’s Beef Board: www.beefboard.org
Oklahoma Beef Council: www.oklabeef.org
Oklahoma Cattlemen’s Association: www.okcattlemen.org

Wheat:
U.S. Wheat Associates: www.uswheat.org
National Association of Wheat Growers: www.wheatworld.org
National Grain and Feed Association: www.ngfa.org
Oklahoma Wheat Commission: www.state.ok.us/~wheat/
Oklahoma Wheat Growers Association: www.owga.org

Poultry:
U.S. Poultry & Egg Association: www.poultryegg.org
USA Poultry & Egg Export Council: www.usapeec.org
The Poultry Federation: www.thepoultryfederation.com
The National Chicken Council: www.eatchicken.com
Poultry Community Council: www.oklahomapoultry.org
OSU Department of Animal Science Poultry Resource Page: www.ansi.okstate.edu/poultrypage/

Cotton:
National Cotton Council of America: www.cotton.org
Cotton Board: www.cottonboard.org
Plains Cotton Cooperative Association: www.pcca.com

Swine:
The National Pork Board: www.porkboard.org
National Pork Producers Council: www.nppc.org
Oklahoma Pork Council: www.okpork.org
OSU Department of Animal Science Swine Publications: www.ansi.okstate.edu/exten/swine

Peanuts:
The National Peanut Board: www.nationalpeanutboard.org
Oklahoma Peanut Commission: (email) okpeanut@sbcglobal.net

Equine:
American Horse Council: www.horsecouncil.org
American Quarter Horse Association: www.aqha.com
Oklahoma Quarter Horse Association: www.okqha.com
Oklahoma Horse Industry Council: www.oklahmahorseindustrycouncil.com

Corn:
National Corn Growers Association: www.ncga.com
Corn Refiners Association: www.corn.org
American Corn Growers Association: www.acga.org
Corn Growers' Guidebook: www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn

Soybeans:
United Soybean Board: www.unitedsoybean.org
OSU Soybean Program: www.soybean.okstate.edu
Oklahoma Soybean Commission: (918) 343-2326

Hay:
Hay Exchange: www.hayexchange.com
USDA Hay Net: www.fsa.usda.gov/haynet

Other Links:
Oklahoma Department of Agriculture: www.state.ok.us/~okag
United States Department of Agriculture: www.usda.gov
Oklahoma Agricultural Statistics Service: www.nass.usda.gov/ok
National Agricultural Statistics Service: www.nass.usda.gov
U.S. Census of Agriculture: www.nass.usda.gov/census