Agriculture in the United States of America

Agriculture in the United States of America

Agriculture is a major industry in the United States and the country is a net exporter of food. As of the last census of agriculture in 2007, there were 2.2 million farms, covering an area of 922 million acres (3,730,000 km2), and an average of 418 acres (1.69 km2) per farm.

Major agricultural products.

The top twenty agricultural products of the United States by value as reported by the FAO in 2003 (ranked in order of value with volume in metric tons):

1. Corn    25 6,900,000

2. Cattle meat   11,736,000

3. Cow's milk, whole, fresh 78,155,000

4. Chicken meat   15,006,000

5. Soybeans   65,800,000

6. Pig meat   8,574,000

7. Wheat   63,590,000

8. Cotton lint   3,968,000

9. Hen eggs   5,141,000

10. Turkey meat   2,584,000

11. Tomatoes   12,275,000

12. Potatoes   20,820,000

13. Grapes   6,126,000

14. Oranges   10,473,000

15. Rice, paddy   9,034,000

16. Apples  4,242,000

17. Sorghum   10,446,000

18. Lettuce   4,490,000

19. Cottonseed  6,073,000

20. Sugar beets   27,760,000

The only other crops to ever appear in the top 20 in the last 40 years were, commonly, tobacco, barley, and oats, and, rarely, peanuts, almonds, and sunflower seeds (in all, only 26 of the 188 crops the FAO tracks worldwide). Alfalfa and hay would both be in the top ten in 2003 if they were tracked by FAO.

Livestock.

The major livestock industries in the United States are:

• Dairy cattle
• Beef cattle
• Swine (also called hogs or pigs)
• Poultry
• Sheep

Goats, horses, turkeys and bees are also raised, though in lesser quantities. Inventory data is not as readily available as for the major industries. For the three major goat-producing states (AZ, NM, and TX) there were 1,200,000 goats at the end of 2002. There were 5,300,000 horses in the United States at the end of 1998. There were 2,500,000 colonies of bees at the end of 2002.

Agriculture safety and health

Agriculture ranks among the most hazardous industries. Farmers are at high risk for fatal and nonfatal injuries, work-related lung diseases, noise-induced hearing loss, skin diseases, chemical-related illnesses, and certain cancers associated with chemical use and prolonged sun exposure. In an average year, 516 workers die doing farm work in the U.S. (1992–2005). Every day, about 243 agricultural workers suffer lost-work-time injuries, and about 5% of these result in permanent impairment. Tractor overturns are the leading cause of agriculture-related fatal injuries, and account for over 90 deaths every year. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health recommends the use of roll over protection structures on tractors to reduce the risk of overturn-related fatal injuries.

Farming is one of the few industries in which families (who often share the work and live on the premises) are also at risk for injuries, illness, and death. Agriculture is the most dangerous industry for young workers, accounting for 42% of all work-related fatalities of young workers in the U.S. between 1992 and 2000. Unlike other industries, half the young victims in agriculture were under age 15. For young agricultural workers aged 15–17, the risk of fatal injury is four times the risk for young workers in other workplaces. Agricultural work exposes young workers to safety hazards such as machinery, confined spaces, work at elevations, and work around livestock. The most common causes of fatal farm-related youth injuries involve machinery, motor vehicles, or drowning. Together these three causes comprise more than half of all fatal injuries to youth on U.S. farms.

An estimated 1.26 million children and adolescents under 20 years of age resided on farms in 2004, with about 699,000 of these youth performing work on the farms. In addition to the youth who live on farms, an additional 337,000 children and adolescents were hired to work on U.S. farms in 2004. On average, 103 children are killed annually on farms (1990–1996). Approximately 40 percent of these deaths were work-related. In 2004, an estimated 27,600 children and adolescents were injured on farms; 8,100 of these injuries were due to farm work. To reduce the number of farm-related youth injuries, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health and the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation have issued a set of guidelines known as the North American Guidelines for Children's Agricultural Tasks (NAGCAT) based on child development principles that matched children's abilities with the requirements of specific farm work. These guidelines have proven effective at reducing work-related injury rates among youth living on farms in the United States.