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Agriculture Facts
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How does Agriculture affect us all……
Today’s Farm
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Agriculture is the nation’s largest employer with more than 22 million people working in some phase-from growing food and fiber to selling it at the supermarket.
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One farmer can feed 143 people in the United States. Family owned and operated farms constitute 97% of the nations farms. Only 2% of the current population are farmers and ranchers. The average size of U.S. farms in 2010 was 450 acres.
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There are 165,102 farms operated by women in the United States.
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Individuals, family partnerships or family corporations own 99% of U.S. farms with fewer than 10 stockholders. Non-family corporations own only 0.4% of America’s farms and ranches.
Consumers
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Americans spend 10.9% of their income on food, the lowest percentage in the world. India spends 51.3%, Mexico spends 24.5%, South Africa spends 27.5%, Japan spends 17.6%, Italy spends 17.2% and the UK spends 11.2%.
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It takes about 40 days for most Americans to earn enough money to pay for their food supply for the entire year. It takes that same American 124 days to earn enough money to pay federal, state and local taxes for the year.
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The annual per capita consumption of Americans is: 204.5 pounds of milk, 196.8 pounds of flour and cereal products, 186.5 pounds of fresh vegetables, 131.8 pounds of fresh fruits, 115.6 pounds of red meat, 65 pounds of poultry, 65.3 pounds of fats and oils, 28 pounds of cheese, 18.9 pounds of rice and 244 eggs.
International
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The United States provides food at a lower cost, as a percentage of income, than any other country in the world. We produce sufficient surplus to be the nations leading exporter.
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The United States produces 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.
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The United States exports $49.1 billion in agricultural products annually and imports $37.5 billion. Asia (not including Japan,
China or East Asia) imports the most ($10.5 billion) and Russia imports the least ($.46 billion).
Economy
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The American farmer regains 20¢ of every dollar in agricultural products sold, 39¢ goes to labor, 6¢ goes to taxes and interest, 8.5¢ goes to packaging and the remainder goes to fuel, electricity, transportation, advertising, etc.
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Farm receipts total $208.2 billion dollars each year; most is meat animals ($46,917,000), least is tobacco ($2,308,000).
Technology and Environment
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A growing number of farmers and ranchers are using computers and modern technology; 90.7% use a computer, 87.4% own a cellular telephone, 51.3% communicate by fax, 72.2% have access to the Internet and 24.5% make online purchases using e-commerce.
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As of May 2000, farmers enrolled 31.4 million acres of their land in the Conservation Reserve Program to protect the environment and provide habitat for wildlife. Farmers and ranchers provide food and habitat for 75% of the nation’s wildlife.
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Erosion rate by water on U.S. croplands has been reduced by 24% in the last 18 years.
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Only 2 labor hours and one acre of land are required to produce 100 bushels of corn, with farmer using a tractor, 5-bottom plow, 25-foot plow, 25-foot tandem disk, planter, 25-foot herbicide applicator, 15-foot self-propelled combine and trucks.
*All information gathered from the American Farm Bureau Federation, "Farm Facts" booklet, updated 2000.
Structure of FFA
The FFA operates on local, state and national levels. Student members belong to chapters organized at the local school level. Agricultural education instructors serve as chapter advisors. Chapters are organized under state associations headed by an advisor and executive secretary, often employees of the state department of education. States conduct programs and host annual conventions.
The National FFA Organization, governed by a Board of Directors and a Board of Student Officers, charters state associations; provides direction, programmatic materials and support; and hosts the National FFA Convention, which draws more than 45,000 attendees each November. The National FFA Alumni Association's more than 40,000 members in 1,200 affiliates assist in the continued growth and development of active FFA programs.
Applied Learning
The agricultural education program provides a well-rounded, practical approach to learning through three components: Classroom education in agricultural topics such as plant and animal sciences, horticulture, forestry, agri-marketing, etc.; hands-on supervised agricultural career experience such as starting a business or working for an established company; and FFA, which provides leadership opportunities and tests students' agricultural skills.
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