Gitnux/Report 2026

Farming Industry Statistics

The global agricultural sector generated $4.2 trillion in value added in 2024, explore the figures behind growth, companies, and trends in farming.
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November 11, 2026Updated
Farming Industry Statistics
Samuel NorbergWritten by Samuel Norberg·Fact-checked by Maya Johansson
Published ·Updated
How this report is researched
01Editorial Scope

Gitnux editors write the brief first: the topic, the inclusion rules, and the frame for what belongs.

02Source Research

Agents search the published record and log every extracted figure back to the passage it came from.

Read our full methodology →

Search agents attach provenance to every extracted figure.

Next review: within 31 days

01 Industry overview

The farming industry at a glance

Agricultural value added increased 3.1% in 2024 to $4.2T, with output expanding across crops, livestock, and dairy despite land, input-cost, and climate pressures. Regional growth diverged as Oceania rose 6.4% while Europe contracted by 2.0%.

$4.2T[54]
Agricultural value added, 2024
3.1%[54]
Value-added growth, 2024
374 Mt[54]
Global meat production, 2024
4.6B ha[54]
Global agricultural land, 2024
Market size
The global agricultural sector generated $4.2 trillion in value added in 2024, up from $4.1 trillion in 2023. The measure covers agriculture as an economic sector and excludes downstream food manufacturing and retail.[54]
Market share & regions
Agricultural value added grew fastest in Oceania, at 6.4% in 2024, followed by Asia at 3.6% and the Americas at 3.4%; Europe contracted by 2.0%. FAO’s release reports regional growth rates rather than a comparable regional share of global value added.[54]
Segmentation
Crop and livestock production remain the main output segments. In 2024, global cereal production reached 3.1 billion tonnes, oil-crop production reached 1.2 billion tonnes, meat production reached 374 million tonnes and milk production reached 985 million tonnes.[54]
Pricing
U.S. wheat prices were forecast to average $6.30 per bushel in the 2026/27 marketing year, after a $0.10-per-bushel reduction in the October 2026 outlook. Farm profitability remains sensitive to commodity prices: U.S. net farm income is forecast at $158.4 billion in 2026, down 2.6% nominally from 2025.[5]
Trends, drivers & challenges
Agricultural land totaled 4.6 billion hectares in 2024, while land equipped for irrigation reached 351 million hectares, about 22% of cropland. Cropland expansion accounted for about 72% of forest-land loss, highlighting the sector’s continuing land-use and environmental pressures.[54]
Latest news
On November 3, 2026, FAO released updated macroeconomic agriculture data covering 1970–2024 for 218 countries and territories. The release reported that global agricultural value added increased 3.1% in 2024, with growth led by Oceania, Asia and the Americas.[54]

02 Ranking

Top 10 Companies in the Farming Industry

The leading companies in the farming industry, ranked on market impact, performance, momentum, innovation and brand popularity.

Updated November 10, 2026 · Next review December 10, 2026

Verdict

Bunge stands out for oilseed processing and grain merchandising because it reported revenue growth of 32.5% and an operating margin of 2.2%, while Cargill leads in global agricultural commodities because it reports revenue growth of 6.5%.

Ranked by Overall score · How we score ↓

Editor's top 3 picks

Where to start, by need.

  1. #1 Overall · Leader in oilseeds & grain

    Bunge

    CH

    Ranked #1 · 9.6 · Oilseeds & grain

    Why we picked it: It reports revenue growth of 32.5% and an operating margin of 2.2% while operating across oilseed processing, grain merchandising, and farm supply.

    See in ranking ↓Visit bunge.com ↗

  2. Leader in seeds & crop protection

    Corteva

    US

    Ranked #3 · 9.1 · Seeds & crop protection

    Why we picked it: It reports 2025 sales of $9.9 billion in seed and $7.5 billion in crop protection, alongside 3% revenue growth and R&D at 8% of revenue.

    See in ranking ↓Visit corteva.com ↗

  3. Leader in crop nutrition

    Yara International

    NO

    Ranked #5 · 9.1 · Crop nutrition

    Why we picked it: It is a crop nutrition and nitrogen products company, reporting 12.8% revenue growth with a 10% operating margin.

    See in ranking ↓Visit yara.com ↗

Pick 1 is the #1 company overall. Picks 2 and 3 are the highest-ranked companies in the top 5 that add a new segment.

Full ranking

Sort by
Top 10 companies in the farming industry, 2026 – Gitnux ranking
#CompanyOverall ↓Company snapshot
1

Bunge

Oilseeds & grain · CH

9.6
2

Cargill

Oilseeds & grain · US

9.6
3

Corteva

Seeds & crop protection · US

9.1
4

Louis Dreyfus Company

Oilseeds & grain · NL

9.1
5

Yara International

Crop nutrition · NO

9.1
6

Syngenta Group

Crop protection, seeds and agricultural biologicals · CH

8.9
7

COFCO International

Global grain, oilseed and agricultural commodity trading · CH

8.8
8

Charoen Pokphand Foods

Integrated livestock, aquaculture and crop agribusiness · TH

8.5
9

The Mosaic Company

Potash and phosphate crop nutrients · US

8.4
10

Fonterra

Dairy farming cooperative and milk processing · NZ

8.4

How we score

  • Impact (30%): scale and weight in the market (revenue, market share, employees, market position).
  • Performance (20%): recent revenue growth and operating margin; an analyst assessment where a company does not publish them.
  • Momentum (20%): growth trajectory and future potential.
  • Innovation (15%): R&D intensity and how technologically advanced the company is.

Popularity (brand search demand, 15%) counts toward Overall but is not published as a column. Overall leaves out what is not known.

Scale Scores are shown on a 7–10 scale with one decimal; bars start at 7.0.

Cadence Recalculated when new figures are published; next review December 10, 2026.

Independence. Rankings are editorially independent. Scores, ranks, picks and the verdict follow the method above; no company can pay to change them.

Cite this ranking

APA

Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Top 10 companies in the farming industry. In Farming Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/farming-industry-statistics/#top-companies

report visual · Projection

U.S. corn grain production, annual summary

U.S. corn grain production, annual summary grew from 14,182 million bushels in 2020 to 17,021 million bushels in 2025.

14.2K million bushels
Start
+3.72%
CAGR · 5y
17K million bushels
Projected
20202025
source-verifiedrelease.nass.usda.gov2025

04 Statistics

Technology & Innovation

Adoption moves in uneven steps across regions and farm tasks, with robotics at 7% of EU farms in 2023 and guidance autosteering reaching 70% of large-scale U.S. crop-producing farms in 2023.

AI in the farming industry

  • 28% of EU agri-food businesses using artificial intelligence reported using systems provided by US service providers in 2024.[1]
  • 73% of EU agri-food businesses using artificial intelligence adopted it within the previous two years, according to a 2024 survey.[1]
  • 18% of EU agri-food companies using artificial intelligence developed their AI capabilities in-house in 2024.[1]
  • 670,000 farmers in India, Kenya, Ethiopia and Nigeria were supported by the Farmer.Chat generative-AI assistant by 2026.[2]
  • 76% of surveyed EU farmers expected digitalisation to produce economic benefits in 2024.[3]
  • 19% of EU agri-food companies using artificial intelligence applied it in design and planning in 2024.[1]

Automation in the farming industry

  • 18% of EU farms applied at least one precision-farming technology or practice in 2023.[4]
  • 7% of EU farms used robotics in 2023.[4]
  • About 11% of EU farms used soil analysis as a precision-farming practice in 2023.[4]
  • 31% of EU farms with at least €100,000 economic output used robotics in 2023.[4]
  • 52% of midsize U.S. crop-producing farms used guidance autosteering in 2023.[5]
  • 8% of EU farms with €25,000–€99,999 economic output used robotics in 2023.[4]

Digital Transformation in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 51.2% had very low digital intensity in 2023, down from 55.1% in 2021.[1]
  • In the United States, 61% of farmers reported adopting digital agronomy technologies in 2024.[6]
  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 15.4% had high digital intensity in 2023, compared with 13.0% in 2021.[1]
  • Across the EU agri-food industrial ecosystem, 20% of companies had a concrete digital-transformation strategy in 2024.[1]
  • Among EU food-manufacturing enterprises, 3.4% had very high digital intensity in 2023, compared with 2.1% in 2021.[1]

Technology Adoption in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • In Czechia, 30% of crop-production farmers used at least one precision-agriculture technology in 2023.[7]
  • In Germany, 85.5% of surveyed farms used at least one digital technology in 2024–2025.[7]
  • In Chile, 12% of agricultural production units reported using a technological tool such as mobile applications, drones, or sensors in 2021.[7]
  • In Canada, 84% of field-crop operations used GPS equipment in 2021.[7]
  • Across EU farms with utilised agricultural area, about 18% used some form of precision-farming technology or practice in 2023.[7]
  • Across EU farms, 43% had internet access, 11% used farm-management information systems, and 7% used robotics in 2023.[7]

Cloud Computing in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 26% used cloud computing in 2023.[1]
  • Across EU businesses, 45% purchased cloud-computing services in 2023.[4]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 37% used cloud computing in 2024, up from 26% in 2023.[1]
  • Among EU large businesses, 78% purchased cloud-computing services in 2023, compared with 44% of SMEs.[4]

Big Data in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 13% used big-data technologies in 2024, compared with 17% in 2023.[1]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 307 startups focused on artificial intelligence and big data were formed between 2015 and 2023.[1]
  • Across EU agri-food businesses, 17% used big-data technologies in 2023.[1]

05 Statistics

Data & Analytics

Data handling stays fragmented, with more than half of U.S. producers storing farm data independently using spreadsheets or notes in 2024 and fewer than 10% using data integrations for strategic planning in 2024.

Business intelligence in the farming industry

  • Only 1 in 4 U.S. producers used a machinery company or retailer to store agronomic data in 2024.[8]
  • Fewer than 10% of U.S. producers used data integrations for strategic planning and performance benchmarking in 2024.[8]
  • More than half of U.S. producers stored farm data independently using spreadsheets or notes in 2024.[8]
  • 76% of U.S. farmers used some form of farm-management software in 2025.[9]
  • Less than 5% of U.S. producers used supply-chain software in 2024.[8]
  • Only 1 in 6 U.S. producers used software to monitor farm equipment in 2024.[8]

Data analytics in the farming industry

  • 18.1% of Spanish agricultural businesses used environmental sensors or weather stations in 2022.[7]
  • 56% of surveyed U.S. Midwest farmers had used yield mapping for more than 10 years by 2025.[10]
  • 18% of surveyed U.S. Midwest farmers had adopted sensors within the previous three years by 2025.[10]
  • 18% of New Zealand dairy farms recorded grazed paddocks using a computer or app in 2023.[7]
  • 36% of surveyed U.S. Midwest farmers had used variable-rate technology for more than 10 years by 2025.[10]
  • 12% of surveyed EU farmers shared data electronically with agri-technology companies in 2024.[11]

Data Quality in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 44% of manufacturers reported that AI projects had failed because of poor data quality in 2025, according to a survey of manufacturing organizations.[12]
  • 49% of manufacturing respondents rated their operational data as having low AI readiness in 2024, meaning it was insufficiently labeled, contextualized, governed or accessible.[13]
  • 30% of manufacturing respondents identified poor-quality data as one of their top three challenges when working with AI-related data in 2024.[13]
  • 42% of manufacturers reported having a process to verify operational data accuracy or quality in 2025, indicating that most lacked a formal validation process.[13]
  • 41% of manufacturers said they distrusted the data used for supply-chain operations in 2025, reflecting persistent data-quality concerns in production and procurement.[12]

Data Governance in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 15% of manufacturers said their data strategy was entirely aligned with their overall business strategy in 2024, while 31% said it was very closely aligned.[13]
  • 69% of food and beverage companies still relied on spreadsheets and email for core operations in 2025, limiting standardized access and control of business data.[14]
  • 6% of food and beverage leaders reported fully integrated digital systems in 2025, despite 82% saying technology adoption was a strategic priority.[14]
  • 40% of food and beverage professionals worldwide identified disconnected systems and data as their biggest barrier to moving faster in 2026.[14]
  • 61% of manufacturers reported having a corporate-wide governance plan, strategy or formal guidelines for how data is collected, organized, accessed and used in 2024.[13]
  • 61% of supply-management organizations reported having a dedicated data-governance function in 2024, while 90% agreed that data governance was necessary.[15]

KPIs in the farming industry

  • 32% of midsize U.S. farms used variable-rate technology in 2023.[7]
  • 70% of large U.S. crop-producing farms used guidance autosteering in 2023.[5]
  • 52% of midsize U.S. farms used guidance autosteering in 2023.[5]
  • 86% of surveyed New Zealand dairy farms used calf registration in 2023.[7]
  • 53% of surveyed Slovenian dairy farms used camera monitoring in barns between 2021 and 2023.[7]
  • 68% of large U.S. crop-producing farms used yield monitors, yield maps, or soil maps in 2023.[5]

06 Statistics

Strategy & Growth

Consolidation and scale matter as 1.88 million U.S. farms operated in 2024, down 8% from 2017, while labor and organic adoption show measurable changes across years.

Growth in the farming industry

  • More than three-fourths of U.S. agricultural products were sold by farms with at least $1 million in sales in 2022.[16]
  • 153,101 U.S. farms and ranches used renewable-energy-producing systems in 2022, up 15% from 133,176 in 2017.[16]
  • 80.3% of global agricultural output growth over the next decade is projected to come from middle-income Asia-Pacific, sub-Saharan Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean.[7]
  • 13.3% is the projected increase in global agricultural production value, reaching $4.01 trillion by 2035, across commodities covered by the OECD-FAO Outlook.[7]
  • $51.8 billion was spent on labor by U.S. farms in 2024, representing 10.8% of total farm expenditures.[16]
  • 1.88 million farms operated in the United States in 2024, down 8% from 2.04 million in 2017.[5]

Differentiation in the farming industry

  • 17,181 U.S. operations were certified organic in 2025, according to Argus-tracked organic-market data cited by USDA.[5]
  • More than 90% was the increase in U.S. certified organic operations from 2011 to 2021, reaching 17,445 farms.[5]
  • More than 20% was the organic retail price premium found for 17 of 18 products analyzed by USDA for 2004–2010.[5]
  • Less than 75% of commercial U.S. producers surveyed in 2023 had adopted at least one of the listed precision-agriculture technologies.[17]
  • 69% of commercial U.S. producers surveyed in 2023 had adopted yield monitors, the most widely adopted precision-agriculture technology in the survey.[17]
  • 27% of commercial U.S. producers surveyed in 2023 had adopted drone technology.[17]

Mergers and acquisitions in the farming industry

  • $76 billion was the value of global agriculture-sector M&A deals in 2024, down 8% from 2023.[18]
  • 692 agricultural-products-and-services M&A transactions worth $44.42 billion were recorded in 2022.[19]
  • 119 agricultural-products-and-services deals worth $2.8 billion were announced globally in the first quarter of 2024.[19]
  • 847 agricultural-products-and-services M&A transactions worth $61.25 billion were recorded in 2021.[19]
  • 17 agriculture-sector M&A deals exceeded $1 billion in value globally in 2024, down 11% from 2023.[18]
  • 9 North American agronomy M&A transactions involved agricultural-retail distribution in 2024.[20]

Strategic partnerships in the farming industry

  • $25 million was invested by Corteva in Pairwise in 2024 under Corteva Catalyst, its agricultural innovation investment and partnership platform.[21]
  • More than 60 commodities were grown annually by Happy Dirt in collaboration with its farmer-owners and farmer-partners in 2024.[22]
  • 10 crop advisers were participating in the North Dakota soil-building coalition when it announced plans to expand to 30 by 2024.[23]
  • More than $50 million had been paid to farmers by Happy Dirt by 2024 through its farmer-partner model.[22]
  • 30 crop advisers was the target for the North Dakota soil-building coalition’s 2024 expansion plan.[23]
  • More than 60 countries were covered by the Rainforest Alliance’s farmer, company, citizen, and investor alliance-building work in 2024.[24]

07 Statistics

People & Workforce

Workforce constraints intersect with remote-work adoption, while average wages for directly hired farm workers reached 18.95 U.S. dollars per hour during the July 2024 reference week.

Hiring in the farming industry

  • 53,300 hired farm workers were employed in the U.S. Lake region on average in 2024.[16]
  • 36,800 hired farm workers were employed in the U.S. Northeast I region on average in 2024.[16]
  • 18.95 U.S. dollars per hour was the average wage paid to directly hired farm workers during the July 2024 reference week.[16]
  • 30,800 hired farm workers were employed in the U.S. Northeast II region on average in 2024.[16]
  • 797,000 workers were hired directly by U.S. farm operators during the October 6–12, 2024 reference week.[16]

Employee retention in the farming industry

  • 14% was the voluntary turnover rate in Canada’s agriculture sector in 2022.[25]
  • 54.6% was the average employee retention rate among interviewed organic vegetable farms in the United States from 2017 to 2019.[26]
  • 7.7% was the reported Canada-wide voluntary turnover rate in 2022, compared with 14% in agriculture.[25]
  • 10% was the voluntary turnover rate in Canada’s agriculture sector in 2018.[25]

Remote Work in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Across U.S. accommodation and food services, 4.8% of workers worked remotely in 2021, up from 1.9% in 2019 and 5.3% in 2020.[27]
  • Across U.S. crop and animal production, 14.4% of workers worked remotely in 2021, compared with 14.7% in 2019 and 15.4% in 2020.[27]
  • Across U.S. agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting, about 12% of workers worked remotely during October 2023–September 2024, including hybrid and fully remote work.[28]
  • Across U.S. agriculture and food employers, 35% offered some type of remote-work arrangement in 2024, according to AgCareers’ industry hiring report.[29]

Hybrid Work in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 44% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals preferred part-time remote work in 2024.[30]
  • 33% of Australian FMCG and agribusiness professionals reported working in hybrid arrangements in 2024.[30]
  • 84% of Australian agribusiness organisations planned no change to existing flexible or hybrid work arrangements in 2026.[31]
  • Among science-of-food professionals surveyed in 2024, 36% reported having no work-at-home days per week.[32]
  • Across employers discussed in a food-industry hybrid-work survey, about 90% had adopted some form of hybrid work, although the figure was not limited to agriculture and food production.[32]

Upskilling in the farming industry

  • 36% of surveyed farmers considered digital technologies too complex in 2024.[33]
  • 31.6% of surveyed Georgian farmers had not participated in any agricultural training.[34]
  • 47% of surveyed farmers identified insufficient skills or knowledge as a barrier to using digital farming tools in 2024.[33]
  • 15.3% of surveyed Georgian farmers sold agri-food products online.[34]
  • 33.02% of surveyed smallholder farmers in South Africa said digital technologies improved farming skills and knowledge.[35]

Employee Engagement in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • In the agriculture industry, employees averaged 7.68 out of 10 for engagement and an eNPS of +5 in CultureMonkey’s 2026 benchmark.[36]
  • Employees in manufacture, distribution and storage organizations scored 60.9% on enablement in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[37]
  • At Europe Snacks, a multinational food manufacturer, employee engagement reached 79% across its international workforce and 88% in its UK business after a structured listening program.[37]
  • Employees in manufacture, distribution and storage organizations scored 59.3% on leadership in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[37]
  • Manufacture, distribution and storage organizations recorded an average employee-engagement score of 72.9% in People Insight’s global benchmark data.[37]

DEI in the farming industry

  • 36% of U.S. farm producers were female in the 2022 Census of Agriculture.[38]
  • 95.4% of U.S. farm producers identified as White in 2022.[38]

08 Statistics

Customer & Sales

Buying journeys remain human-led: 67% of farmers turn to sales representatives or dealers during the initial purchase stage, and 78% prefer human interactions for product use and service.

Customer experience in the farming industry

  • 400 farmers and contractors in Denmark, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States participated in McKinsey’s 2023 off-highway-equipment customer survey.[6]
  • 67% of farmers turn to sales representatives or dealers during the initial purchase stage, according to a U.S. farmer survey.[6]
  • 76% of UK farmers surveyed were online between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m., a relevant window for agricultural customer communications.[39]
  • Farmers reported difficulty comparing agricultural equipment and prices before purchase in a five-country survey conducted in late 2023.[6]
  • 78% of farmers prefer human rather than digital interactions when asking agricultural providers about product use and service, according to a U.S. survey.[6]

Customer retention in the farming industry

  • 10.3% fewer U.S. farm operations sold directly to consumers in 2022 than in 2017, indicating contraction in the number of direct customer relationships.[5]
  • 79% of surveyed Vermont CSA farms planned to increase the number of shares offered for 2023, supporting expansion of their recurring customer base.[40]
  • Approximately 50% was the reported turnover rate during the formative years of a Wisconsin CSA cited in a peer-reviewed study.[41]
  • 33% was the reported retention rate in an early case study of a CSA in California cited by a peer-reviewed study.[41]
  • 94% was the member retention rate reported by responding CSA farms in a University of Maryland survey.[42]

Customer acquisition in the farming industry

  • 12.6% was the share of U.S. organic-farm sales made directly to consumers in 2021, the highest level reported in the cited period.[5]
  • 35% was the increase in U.S. direct farm sales from 2019 to 2020.[5]
  • 45% of UK farmers surveyed used social media to influence their on-farm buying decisions.[39]
  • 33.2% was the inflation-adjusted increase in U.S. farm sales through retail, institutional and intermediate direct channels from 2017 to 2022.[5]
  • 79% was the increase in U.S. farm-store, CSA and other direct-to-consumer sales from 2019 to 2020.[5]

Customer loyalty in the farming industry

  • 53% of large U.S. livestock producers reported loyalty to animal-genetics brands.[43]
  • 37% of large U.S. livestock producers reported loyalty to animal-health brands.[43]
  • 37% of large U.S. crop producers reported loyalty to fertilizer brands.[43]
  • Nearly two-thirds of more than 800 U.S. growers surveyed in 2024 described themselves as brand loyal for tractors, field equipment or combines.[44]
  • 52% of large U.S. livestock producers reported loyalty to animal-feed dealers or retailers.[43]

Lead generation in the farming industry

  • 25% of surveyed U.S. potato farmers used newspapers for product advertising or promotion.[45]
  • 21.43% of surveyed U.S. potato farmers used radio for product advertising or promotion.[45]
  • 46.43% of surveyed U.S. potato farmers used magazines for product advertising or promotion.[45]
  • 46.43% of surveyed U.S. potato farmers had an updated website.[45]
  • 16.07% of surveyed U.S. potato farmers used academic gatherings for product advertising or promotion.[45]

09 Statistics

Marketing & Brand

Direct sales remain a minority channel, with 6.1% of U.S. farms selling agrifood products directly to consumers in 2022, even as farm-owned branding is used across regions.

Marketing in the farming industry

  • $14.2 billion was sold directly to retail outlets, institutions and intermediate markets by U.S. farms in 2022.[5]
  • 6.1% of U.S. farms sold agrifood products directly to consumers in 2022.[46]
  • $3.26 billion was the gross value of U.S. farm products sold directly to consumers in 2022.[46]
  • 60,332 U.S. farm operations sold food directly to retail outlets, institutions and intermediate markets in 2022.[5]
  • 37.7% of U.S. direct food sales were concentrated in California in 2022.[5]

Digital marketing in the farming industry

  • 37.7% of first-year local food farmers used a farm business website in 2015.[5]
  • 5% of U.S. local food producers sold farm products online through their website in 2015.[5]
  • 9% of U.S. farmers surveyed by McKinsey used online sources for customized recommendations in 2018.[6]
  • 15% of U.S. local food producers used a business website to provide farm information or advertise products and services in 2015.[5]
  • 82% of U.S. farms owned or used a smartphone in 2025.[47]

Branding in the farming industry

  • 63% of Appalachian farmers used Appalachian Grown branding on some or all products in 2022.[48]
  • Farmer-owned brands held 20% to 60% market shares across ten U.S. product categories in 2026.[49]
  • 24% of Appalachian farmers used other regional branding alongside Appalachian Grown branding in 2022.[48]
  • 457 U.S. food consumers participated in a 2026 study of awareness and perceptions of farmer-owned brands.[49]
  • 23% was the relative premium for an Indiana Grown point-of-sale sign on sweet corn in the reported U.S. consumer experiment.[50]

Social media in the farming industry

  • 25% of surveyed U.S. potato farmers used Instagram in 2024.[45]
  • 46% of surveyed U.S. farmers used social media for work or business at least weekly in 2022.[51]
  • 76.79% of surveyed U.S. potato farmers used social media to advertise or promote products in 2024.[45]
  • 69% of surveyed U.S. farmers accessed social media at least weekly for personal use in 2022.[51]
  • 25.86% of Maryland young farmers used social media daily for their farms in 2024.[52]

Influencer Marketing in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • Food and drink influencer content generated 392 billion impressions globally in 2023.[53]
  • Food and drink influencer content generated 42.7 billion engagements globally in 2023.[53]
  • Food and drink influencer content involved 78,800 profiles globally in 2023, based on Sprout Social’s benchmark dataset.[53]
  • 11.5 million influencer posts covered food and drink globally in 2023, according to Sprout Social’s benchmark dataset.[53]
  • Food and drink influencer content produced an estimated $122 billion in earned media value globally in 2023.[53]

10 Statistics

Operations & Execution

Execution ties to both irrigation and precision practices, with land equipped for irrigation at 351 million hectares in 2024 and EU farms applying precision technologies at 18% of farms with utilised agricultural area in 2023.

Process optimization in the farming industry

  • 18% of EU farms with utilised agricultural area applied at least one precision-farming technology or practice in 2023.[4]
  • 5% of EU farms used variable-rate techniques in 2023.[4]
  • 70% of large-scale U.S. crop-producing farms used guidance autosteering systems in 2023.[5]
  • 52% of midsize U.S. farms used guidance autosteering systems in 2023.[5]
  • 11% of EU farms used soil analysis as a precision-farming practice in 2023.[4]

Operational efficiency in the farming industry

  • U.S. total farm output nearly tripled between 1948 and 2023 while land, labour and other inputs remained relatively steady.[5]
  • 10.0% of EU farms with economic output below €2,000 used robotics in 2023, approximately.[4]
  • 6.5% of EU utilised agricultural area, or 10.0 million hectares, was actually irrigated in 2023.[4]
  • 80% of EU farms had tractors in 2023, approximately.[4]
  • 9.6% of EU utilised agricultural area, or 14.9 million hectares, was irrigable in 2023.[4]

Quality management in the farming industry

  • 42.4 hectares was the average size of EU organic farms in 2020.[4]
  • 22.6% of Estonia’s utilised agricultural area was organic or under conversion in 2024.[4]
  • 0.8% of Malta’s utilised agricultural area was organic or under conversion in 2024.[4]
  • 10.8% of EU utilised agricultural area was organic in 2023.[4]
  • 84% was the increase in organic area across 26 EU countries between 2013 and 2023.[4]

Supply chain in the farming industry

  • $2.17 trillion was spent on domestically produced food in the United States in 2024.[5]
  • 25.4% of fruits and vegetables were lost globally after harvest and before retail in 2023.[54]
  • 88.2 cents of each U.S. consumer food dollar represented post-farm marketing activities in 2024.[5]
  • 10.0% was the food-loss rate in Northern America and Europe in 2023.[54]
  • 14.0% of meat and animal products were lost globally after harvest and before retail in 2023.[54]

Outsourcing / Offshoring in the agriculture and food production sector (sector benchmark)

  • 49% of U.S. growers surveyed outsourced at least some farm work to third-party service providers in 2022, with spraying services the most commonly outsourced activity.[55]
  • 66% of Queensland food-processing businesses engaged in contract manufacturing to some extent in 2010, including contracting work in or out.[56]
  • About 12% of firms in the 11-country World Bank Firm-level Adoption of Technology sample outsourced at least one food-processing function, compared with about 18% in apparel.[57]
  • 85% of Canadian food and beverage companies processed or manufactured products internally in 2020, while 13% both produced internally and outsourced production.[58]
  • 2% of Canadian food and beverage companies outsourced production entirely to third-party manufacturers in 2020.[58]

11 Statistics

Finance & Pricing

Profitability is closely linked to input costs and commodity prices, including U.S. net farm income forecast at $158.4 billion in 2026 and U.S. fertilizer and lime expenses forecast at $32.4 billion in 2024.

Pricing strategy in the farming industry

  • 44% of the value of U.S. production under contract came from large-scale family farms in 2020.[5]
  • More than 90% of U.S. poultry production value was covered by production contracts in 2019.[5]
  • 7% of U.S. farms used marketing or production contracts in 2020, compared with 13% in 1996.[5]
  • 16% of the value of U.S. agricultural production was produced under production contracts in 2020.[5]
  • The EU average annual rent for arable land and permanent grassland rose 6.4% to €295 per hectare in 2024.[4]

Cost reduction in the farming industry

  • EU agricultural input costs not related to investment fell 3.7% to €303.3 billion in 2024.[4]
  • The EU price index for goods and services consumed in agriculture fell 6.1% in 2024.[4]
  • U.S. fuel and oil expenses were forecast at $15.9 billion in 2024, down 11.8% from 2023 in inflation-adjusted dollars.[5]
  • U.S. fertilizer and lime expenses were forecast at $32.4 billion in 2024, down 12.0% from 2023 in inflation-adjusted dollars.[5]
  • U.S. interest expenses were forecast at $29.7 billion in 2024, up 5.0% from 2023 in inflation-adjusted dollars.[5]

Profitability in the farming industry

  • Animals and animal products accounted for 41.1% of EU agricultural output value in 2024.[4]
  • EU crop output value fell 3.1% to €267.7 billion in 2024.[4]
  • EU gross value added generated by agriculture rose 3.1% to €228.6 billion in 2024.[4]
  • U.S. animal and product receipts were forecast at $267.4 billion in 2024, up 4.5% from 2023 in inflation-adjusted dollars.[5]
  • EU animal and animal-product output value rose 1.9% to €218.8 billion in 2024.[4]

Financial planning in the farming industry

  • U.S. farm-sector working capital was forecast to increase 3.5% nominally in 2026 after declining 15.0% in 2025.[5]
  • 28.0% of U.S. farms used debt in 2023.[5]
  • U.S. farms with debt had average conditional debt of $504,900 in 2023.[5]
  • The dollar-weighted interest rate on U.S. farm debt averaged 5.5% in 2023.[5]
  • U.S. farm debt averaged 9.6 times gross cash farm income across all farms in 2023.[5]

12 Statistics

Product & Service

After-sales and compatibility concerns show up alongside adoption, with 44% of farmers’ post-warranty repair services performed in-house in 2023 and long-term reliability, affordability, ease of use, operator safety, and machinery compatibility each supported by more than 80% of respondents.

Product development in the farming industry

  • Europe accounted for 20% of global public agricultural research and development spending in 2023.[59]
  • Publicly oriented agricultural research and development systems grew by an average 1.8% annually worldwide over the two decades to 2023.[59]
  • Asia accounted for 48% of global public agricultural research and development spending in 2023.[59]
  • Oceania accounted for 3% of global public agricultural research and development spending in 2023.[59]
  • $50.4 billion was invested in publicly oriented agricultural research and development worldwide in 2023.[59]

Product lifecycle in the farming industry

  • Variable-rate technology was used by 32% of U.S. midsize farms in 2023.[5]
  • Variable-rate technology was used by 45% of U.S. large-scale farms in 2023.[5]
  • Fifty-two percent of U.S. midsize farms used tractor, harvester or equipment guidance autosteering systems in 2023.[5]
  • About 43% of EU farms reported internet access in 2023.[4]
  • Small Scottish farms and crofts may replace mobile agricultural machinery only every 20 years or more.[60]

After-sales in the farming industry

  • Eleven percent of farmers’ post-warranty repair services fell into the ‘other’ category in 2023, up from 1% in 2018.[6]
  • Forty-four percent of farmers’ post-warranty repair services were performed in-house in 2023, up from 33% in 2018.[6]
  • Twenty-one percent of rural equipment dealers said aftermarket revenue represented 51%–75% of dealership sales.[61]
  • Fifty-two percent of rural equipment dealers said parts and service represented 26%–50% of dealership sales.[61]
  • About 45% of farm-equipment dealers estimated that service revenue increased in 2023.[44]

Value proposition in the farming industry

  • Farmers involved in direct sales adopted 14%–36% more digital technologies than farmers not involved in direct sales, depending on category.[11]
  • Farmers with specialised digital training adopted 14%–71% more digital technologies than farmers without such training, depending on technology category.[11]
  • Farmers with poor or insufficient internet connections adopted 4%–35% fewer digital technologies than farmers with good connections, depending on category.[11]
  • Farmers identified long-term reliability, affordability, ease of use, operator safety and machinery compatibility as relevant technology characteristics, each supported by more than 80% of respondents.[50]
  • Farmers in a Swiss choice experiment were willing to pay CHF296 per hectare per year for precision technology providing stable gains over time.[62]

13 Statistics

Sustainability & Ethics

Sustainability actions span organic and greenhouse-gas mitigation, with 10.9% of EU utilised agricultural area under organic farming in 2024 and 48% of English farms taking action to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in 2024.

Sustainability in the farming industry

  • 10.9% of the European Union’s utilised agricultural area was under organic farming in 2024.[4]
  • 150 million hectares of permanent meadows and pastures were lost globally between 2001 and 2023.[54]
  • 38% of surveyed farmers globally used biocontrols, biofertilisers or biostimulants in 2024.[6]
  • 78 million hectares were added to global cropland between 2001 and 2023.[54]
  • 40% of surveyed farmers globally used variable-rate spraying or fertilisation in 2024.[6]

ESG in the farming industry

  • 8.7 million hectares of farmland were certified by the Rainforest Alliance in 2024.[24]
  • $394 million had been invested in Rainforest Alliance landscape and community programmes since 2003.[24]
  • 25 million hectares were covered by Rainforest Alliance landscape and community programmes in 2024.[24]
  • 62 countries had farms or programmes certified by the Rainforest Alliance in 2024.[24]
  • 4,200 companies partnered with the Rainforest Alliance in 2024.[24]

Ethics in the farming industry

  • 213,000 hectares were covered by Rainforest Alliance-certified banana production in 2024.[24]
  • 1.3 million people directly benefited from Rainforest Alliance landscape and community programmes in 2024.[24]
  • 158,000 farmers and workers were covered by Rainforest Alliance-certified banana production in 2024.[24]
  • 48% of English farms were taking action to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in 2024.[63]
  • $33.5 million in sales revenue was generated by small and medium-sized farming and forestry businesses in Rainforest Alliance programmes.[24]

CSR in the farming industry

  • 1.3 million people directly benefited from Rainforest Alliance landscape and community programmes.[24]
  • US$33.5 million in sales revenue was generated by small and medium-sized farming and forestry businesses in Rainforest Alliance programmes.[24]
  • 4,200 companies partnered with the Rainforest Alliance to support certified agricultural supply chains in 2024.[24]
  • 25 million hectares were included in Rainforest Alliance landscape and community programmes.[24]
  • 1.5 billion hectares were covered by companies reporting sustainable agricultural practices in the 2025 benchmark.[64]

Circular economy in the farming industry

  • 71% of English farms taking greenhouse-gas mitigation action improved energy efficiency in 2024.[63]
  • 77% of English farms taking greenhouse-gas mitigation action recycled waste materials in 2024.[63]
  • 22.8% of US conservation-practice survey respondents used field-border practices in 2024.[38]
  • 20.8% of US conservation-practice survey respondents used overland-flow-control practices in 2024.[38]
  • 80.9% of US conservation survey respondents reported using conservation practices in 2024.[38]

Carbon footprint in the farming industry

  • 4.3 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent came from livestock emissions in 2023.[54]
  • 16.5 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent were emitted by global agrifood systems in 2023.[54]
  • 2.8 billion tonnes of carbon-dioxide equivalent came from deforestation in 2023.[54]
  • 1.9 kilograms of carbon-dioxide equivalent per international dollar was the global agricultural-production emissions intensity in 2023.[54]
  • 19% of agrifood-system emissions came from land-use change in 2023.[54]

15 Statistics

Globalization & Expansion

Trade and employment scale up while land-use and production intensity stay under pressure, including agricultural land at 4.6 billion hectares in 2024 and global agri-food employment at 1.3 billion people in 2021.

Globalization in the farming industry

  • 1.7 times higher was the nominal value of global agricultural exports in 2023 than in 2010.[54]
  • 3.83 billion people were employed in global agri-food systems in 2021, according to FAO-linked estimates.[68]
  • 10% was the decline in global soybean-oilseed export unit values from 2022 to 2023.[54]
  • 24% was Africa’s share of global agri-food-systems employment in 2021, up from 14.5% in 2000.[68]
  • 1.3 billion people were employed in global agri-food systems in 2021, equal to 39.2% of global employment.[68]

Cultural adaptation in the farming industry

  • 29% lower were women’s farm wages than men’s farm wages in Myanmar.[54]
  • 50% to 80% is the estimated self-sufficiency range of Indigenous Peoples’ food systems in generating food and resources.[54]
  • 43% of agricultural wage workers in Myanmar were women.[54]
  • 185 million Indigenous women worldwide contribute to food security, biodiversity conservation and traditional-knowledge transmission.[54]
  • 27% of adults performing household agricultural work in Myanmar were youth.[54]

Supplier management in the farming industry

  • 5% was the decrease in EU prices for goods and services currently consumed in agriculture in 2023.[4]
  • €313.2 billion was the EU agricultural industry’s intermediate-input cost in 2023.[4]
  • 31.4% was the increase in EU agricultural input prices in 2022 compared with 2021.[4]
  • 12% was the decrease in EU energy and lubricant prices for agriculture in 2023.[4]
  • 120 days is the agreed deadline after year-end for EU Member States to transmit agricultural input-price data.[4]

Stakeholder management in the farming industry

  • 80% or more of the world’s food is produced by family farms.[54]
  • 15% is the share of farmland held by women, while women provide almost half of farm labour.[54]
  • 70% to 80% of farmland worldwide is occupied by family farms.[54]
  • More than 600 million farms exist worldwide, according to the UN Decade of Family Farming.[54]
  • More than 90% of farms are run by an individual or family relying primarily on family labour.[54]

Distribution channels in the farming industry

  • $10.7 billion was sold directly to consumers by U.S. farms in 2020.[5]
  • $5.6 billion was sold to intermediate markets by U.S. nonfamily farms in 2024.[5]
  • $14.2 billion was sold through U.S. direct-to-retail, institution and intermediate-market channels in 2022, up 33.2% from 2017 after inflation adjustment.[5]
  • $652 million was sold directly to consumers by midsize U.S. family farms in 2023.[5]
  • 60,332 U.S. farm operations sold through direct-to-retail, institution and intermediate-market channels in 2022.[5]

16 Statistics

Regional markets

Regional farm economics vary, with Great Britain showing £7.7 billion in total income from farming in 2024 and the United States operating 1.88 million farms in 2024.

The farming industry in United States

  • Large-scale family farms represented 5% of U.S. farms and generated 50% of total agricultural production value in 2024.[5]
  • 86% of U.S. farms were small family farms in 2024, but they produced 17% of the total value of agricultural production.[5]
  • 1.88 million farms operated across the United States in 2024, covering 876 million acres and averaging 466 acres per farm.[5]

The farming industry in Australia

  • Australia had about 55,000 farms in 2025, down from approximately 92,000 farms in 1993.[69]
  • A$82 billion was the gross value of Australian agricultural production at the farm gate in 2023–24.[69]
  • 71% of Australian agricultural production by volume was exported on average across 2022–23 to 2024–25.[69]
  • 308,000 people were employed in Australian agriculture in 2024–25, equal to 2.1% of national employment.[69]
  • Agriculture accounted for 55% of Australia’s land use in 2023–24, according to the department’s national agriculture profile.[69]

The farming industry in Japan

  • 883,000 agricultural management entities operated in Japan in 2024, down 5.0% from 2023.[70]
  • Japan had 4.27 million hectares of farmland in 2024, approximately 12% less than the 4.83 million hectares recorded in 2000.[70]
  • 111.4 thousand core workers were mainly engaged in farming in Japan in 2024.[70]
  • ¥3.9649 trillion was Japan’s agricultural production income in 2024, an increase of 20.5% year over year.[70]
  • ¥10.7801 trillion was Japan’s total agricultural output in 2024, up 13.6% from the previous year.[70]

The farming industry in United Kingdom

  • £41,500 was the average Farm Business Income across all farm types in Great Britain in 2023/24.[63]
  • 21% of Great Britain’s farms made a negative Farm Business Income in 2024/25, while 38% earned at least £50,000.[63]
  • 17 million hectares of utilised agricultural area covered 69% of the United Kingdom’s land in 2024.[63]
  • £7.7 billion was the United Kingdom’s Total Income from Farming in 2024, up 26% from 2023.[63]
  • 453,000 people worked on commercial agricultural holdings in the United Kingdom in 2024, a 2.0% annual decrease.[63]

The farming industry in California

  • $23.8 billion in agricultural exports came from California in 2024, an increase of 6.1% from 2023.[71]
  • 62,500 farm operations managed 23.7 million acres in California in 2024, averaging 379 acres per operation.[16]
  • 40.288 billion pounds of milk were produced in California in 2024, with production valued at $8.622 billion.[16]
  • $61.2 billion in cash receipts were generated by California farms and ranches in 2024, up 3.6% from 2023.[71]

The farming industry in Norway

  • 1.547 billion litres of milk were delivered by Norwegian milk producers to dairies in 2025, 67 million litres more than in 2024.[72]
  • 36,439 agricultural holdings operated in Norway in 2025, including 34,452 held by natural persons and 1,987 held by legal persons.[73]
  • 9,839,227 decares of agricultural area were in use in Norway in 2025, including 8,090,965 decares of fully cultivated land.[73]
  • NOK 295,700 was the average net entrepreneurial income from agriculture for Norwegian farm holders in 2024, up 14.9% from 2023.[73]

Key questions about the farming industry

What is the size of the global farming market in 2024?
Global agriculture generated $4.2 trillion in value added in 2024.
How fast is agricultural value added growing?
Agricultural value added grew 3.1% in 2024, with growth led by Oceania at 6.4%, followed by Asia at 3.6% and the Americas at 3.4%.
Which companies lead the farming industry?
Bunge stands out for oilseed processing and grain merchandising because it reported revenue growth of 32.5% and an operating margin of 2.2%, while Cargill leads in global agricultural commodities because it reports revenue growth of 6.5%.
What technology shifts show up in farm operations and data use?
In the United States, 61% of farmers reported adopting digital agronomy technologies in 2024, while fewer than 10% of U.S. producers used data integrations for strategic planning and performance benchmarking in 2024.
How does the market structure shape competition for equipment and services?
Farmers turn to sales representatives or dealers during the initial purchase stage at 67%, and farmers reported difficulty comparing agricultural equipment and prices before purchase in a five-country survey in late 2023.
How sensitive is farm profitability to commodity pricing in 2026?
U.S. net farm income is forecast at $158.4 billion in 2026, down 2.6% nominally from 2025, and U.S. wheat prices were forecast to average $6.30 per bushel in the 2026/27 marketing year.
Reference

Cite This Report

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APA
Samuel Norberg. (2026, November 10). Farming Industry Statistics. Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/farming-industry-statistics
MLA
Samuel Norberg. "Farming Industry Statistics." Gitnux, 10 Nov 2026, https://gitnux.org/farming-industry-statistics.
Chicago
Samuel Norberg. 2026. "Farming Industry Statistics." Gitnux. https://gitnux.org/farming-industry-statistics.

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