US Farm Facts

Farmers all have a similar goal in mind – to produce quality food, fuel and fiber to meet the world’s growing demand. However, farming is different from culture to culture. Here are some farm facts about US farmers:

• To keep up with population growth more food will have to be produced in the next 50 years as the past 10,000 years combined.
• Today, the average U.S. farmer feeds 155 people. In 1960, a farmer fed just 26 people.
• Today’s farmer grows twice as much food as his parents did – using less land, energy, water and fewer emissions.
• American farmers ship more than $100 billion of their crops and products to many nations.
• U.S. farmers produce about 40 percent of the world’s corn, using only 20 percent of the total area harvested in the world.
• Farmers are a direct lifeline to more than 24 million U.S. jobs in all kinds of industries.
• In the past five years, U.S. farm operators have become more demographically diverse. The 2007 census counted nearly 30 percent more women as principal farm operators. The count of Hispanic operators grew by 10 percent, and the counts of American Indian, Asian and African-American farm operators increased as well.” Source: Monsanto ~ U.S. Farm Facts

What are some more farming facts from around the world? Write them in a blog post and enter the AGCO Blog Contest.  Not sure how to do a ‘blog post?’  Just complete our easy form by Friday for your chance to win an iPad!