New Ag Census Data for The Sunshine State

Explore the latest data about Florida agriculture from the latest Ag Census from the USDA.

The USDA recently released its data from the 2017 Ag Census, which is completed every five years. It collects data on everything to do with agriculture, from the size of farms to income generated and everything in between. A Growing Produce article highlighted key points from the census concerning Florida agriculture, the state we at Griffin Fertilizer are proud to serve. Explore the details below.

Details of the 2017 Ag Census for Florida

Agriculture is a main industry in Florida. Key points from the 2017 Ag Census, conducted by the USDA, include:

Number of Farms and Acreage. In 2017, there were 47,590 farms working 9,731,731. While the number of farms fell by 150 farms, acreage rose by over 180,000 acres.

Average Age of Farmers. The average age of a Florida farmer was 58.9, compared with the U.S. average of 57.5. Both averages rose by 1.2 years over 2012 numbers.

Total Farm Production Expenses. In 2017, the total farm production expenses for ag in The Sunshine State were $6.507 billion.

Market Value. The market value of ag products sold in Florida was $7.357 billion in 2017.

Organic Farms. In 2017, the Ag Census showed there were 222 organic farms with sales of $74,242,000; while the number of farms increased slightly over 2012 numbers, total sales fell by nearly $10 million.

Citrus. In 2017, there were over 3,000 citrus operations working 474,540 acres; grapefruit accounted for almost 500 of those operations and over 40,000 of the acres.

Irrigated Land. Florida had 1,519,379 acres of irrigated land in 2017.

Griffin Fertilizer is committed to helping both growers and ranchers make sound agronomic and economic decisions in order to maximize the health of their grove and pasture. As a full-service custom dry & liquid fertilizer blender and crop protection product distributor, we will continue our mission to further advance Florida agriculture. For questions or concerns about your farm or pasture, contact us and one of our team will be in touch.