how much of us land is used for agriculture

What percent of the Earth is used for agriculture?

 · About 52 percent of the 2012 U.S. land base (including Alaska and Hawaii) is used for agricultural purposes, including cropping, grazing (on pasture, range, and in forests), and farmsteads/farm roads. Chart data Embed this chart Download higher resolution chart (2083 pixels by 1667, 300 dpi) Land-use change occurs for a variety of reasons.

What are the three resources used in agriculture?

3 rows · About 40 percent of the land in the United States is used for agriculture of some form, …

How can land be saved for agriculture?

 · Research expert covering agriculture & FMCG Get in touch with us now , Mar 14, 2022 This statistic shows the total farmland area in the United States from 2000 to 2021. In 2014, farms in the United…

What are the high inputs cost for agriculture?

 · U.S. land area covers nearly 2.3 billion acres. The proportion of the land base in agricultural uses has declined from 63 percent in 1949 to 51 percent in 2007. Gradual declines have occurred in cropland and pasture and range, while grazed forestland has …

How much of US land is used for agriculture 2020?

896,600Total area of land in United States farms from 2000 to 2021 (in 1,000 acres)*CharacteristicLand in thousand acres2021895,3002020896,6002019897,4002018899,5009 more rows

What percentage of the US is in agriculture?

In 2020, 19.7 million full- and part-time jobs were related to the agricultural and food sectors—10.3 percent of total U.S. employment. Direct on-farm employment accounted for about 2.6 million of these jobs, or 1.4 percent of U.S. employment.

What percent of US land is used for agriculture 2021?

52 percentAgricultural production is a major use of land, accounting for roughly 52 percent of the U.S. land base.

How much agricultural land is there in the US?

897,400,000 acresThe number of farms in the United States for 2019 is estimated at 2,023,400, down 5,800 farms from 2018. Total land in farms, at 897,400,000 acres, decreased 2,100,000 acres from 2018. The average farm size for 2019 is 444 acres, up 1 acre from the previous year.

Does the US produce enough food to feed itself?

When talking about the United States, the answer is yes; the U.S. is one of the largest food exporters in the world. It is indeed, self-sufficient when it comes to food.

Does the US import more food than it exports?

Imports have grown at a faster rate than exports since 2016, driven in part by strong domestic economic growth. These shifts in U.S. agricultural trade produced a trade surplus in 2018 of $10.9 billion, the smallest surplus since 2006.

What foreign country owns the most land in the United States?

CanadaCanada is the biggest foreign owner of U.S. agricultural and timber land, and owns 4.7 million acres in the United States. The Netherlands is the second largest foreign owner with 4.6 million acres.

How much land is unused in the US?

As of the 2010 census, the United States consists of 11,078,300 Census Blocks. Of them, 4,871,270 blocks totaling 4.61 million square kilometers were reported to have no population living inside them. Despite having a population of more than 310 million people, 47 percent of the USA remains unoccupied.

How many acres of farmland does China own in the United States?

about 192,000 acresAt the turn of this century, Chinese owners owned about 192,000 acres of farmland in the U.S., according to the USDA. By 2019, the USDA says foreign ownership of U.S. acres exceeded 35.2 million acres, a 60 percent increase from the decade prior.

How much of the US is arable land?

about 588,000 square milesBy contrast, the United States comes in second, with about 152.2 million hectares of arable land (about 588,000 square miles), which is only 16.8 percent of U.S. land mass.

What state is number 1 in agriculture?

Texas was by far the leading U.S. state in terms of total number of farms, with about 247 thousand farms by the end of 2021. Missouri was ranked second, among the leading ten states, with 95 thousand farms as of 2021.

Which US state has the highest percentage of land dedicated to farming?

TexasTexas had the most land in farms in the United States in 2021 followed by Montana and Kansas. Texas accounted for more than 14% of the land in farms in the United States in 2021.

What are the top 3 agribusinesses in the US?

Fresh Del Monte Produce (NYSE:FDP) Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 4,489. … Dole Food Company. Total revenue of the company in 2019 (in millions of dollars): 4,566. … CF Industries Holding (NYSE:CF) … Seaboard Corporation (NYSEAMERICAN: SEB) … Pioneer Hi-Bred International.

Is agriculture the largest industry in the world?

Agriculture is the world’s largest industry. It employs more than one billion people and generates over $1.3 trillion dollars worth of food annually. Pasture and cropland occupy around 50 percent of the Earth’s habitable land and provide habitat and food for a multitude of species.

Is the US leading agriculture?

Thanks to its natural resources and land conditions, the United States was always destined to be one of the world’s leading agricultural producers and suppliers. In 2019, the U.S. farming industry employed more than 960 thousand people around the country. Across the U.S. there are numerous farms of various sizes.

What percentage of US exports are agricultural?

Overall, U.S. farmers and ranchers export more than 20 percent of what they produce. In 2018, agricultural domestic exports reached nearly $145 billion, an increase of 1.4 percent over 2017.

How much land is used for farming?

This includes 431.1 million acres of cropland, 396.9 million acres of pasture, and 71.5 million acres of forests.

How much of the Earth’s land is used for agriculture in 2020?

How much of Earth’s land is used for agriculture 2020? The global impact of farming on the environment is revealed in new maps, which show that 40 percent of the Earth’s land is now given over to agriculture.

What is the land used for farming called?

Land able to be used for farming is called “cultivable land “. Farmland, meanwhile, is used variously in reference to all agricultural land, to all cultivable land, or just to the newly restricted sense of “arable land “.

What are the different types of land use?

There are many different categories when it comes to land use. The five most common uses are recreational, transport, agricultural, residential and commercial. Agricultural land is used for the growing and harvesting of crops and livestock.

Which type of agriculture takes up the most land?

What type of agriculture takes up the most land? If we combine pastures used for grazing with land used to grow crops for animal feed, livestock accounts for 77% of global farming land. While livestock takes up most of the world’s agricultural land it only produces 18% of the world’s calories and 37% of total protein.

What is the biggest single human use of land?

What is the biggest single human land use on Earth? Agriculture is a major use of land. Half of the world’s habitable land is used for agriculture . The extensive land use has a major impact on the earth’s environment as it reduces wilderness and threatens biodiversity.

Where is land used in the United States?

Regional land-use patterns vary with differences in soil, climate, topography, and population. Cropland is roughly concentrated in the central regions of the contiguous United States; pasture and range in the more arid West; and forest land (both grazed and not grazed) in the East, where the topography and precipitation patterns are conducive to growing trees. The Northeast and Southeast have the highest shares of urban land, while 80 percent of the total acreage in parks, recreation, and wildlife uses are in the Mountain and Pacific regions and in Alaska.

How many acres of land were used in 2007?

In 2007, 408 million acres of agricultural land were in cropland (down 17 percent from 1949), 614 million acres were in pasture and range (down 3 percent), 127 million acres were in grazed forestland (down 52 percent), and 12 million acres were in farmsteads and farm roads (down 19 percent). Nonagricultural uses have increased from 37 to 49 percent of the land base, largely due to a fourfold increase in National Parks and National Wilderness/Wildlife areas, particularly in Alaska.

How does market forces affect crop production?

Market forces, changes in farm programs, and changes in technology affect the supply and demand for land used for crop production. Between 1949 and 1969, cropland used for crops decreased by 54 million acres and then peaked at 383 million acres in 1982, when no cropland was diverted through Government-acreage reduction programs. Since 1980, cropland used for crops has been relatively stable, despite significant variation in commodity prices (see ‘ Commodity Prices Vary More Than U.S. Cropland Acreage ‘).

What are the factors that affect land use?

A complex set of factors, including commodity prices; production technology; demand for land for residential, commercial, and industrial development; and agricultural and bioenergy policies, can induce land-use change as landowners respond to market conditions and try to maximize the returns to their land.

What is the focus of A Focus on Agricultural Land?

A Focus on Agricultural Land. by Cynthia Nickerson and Allison Borchers. How land is used and changes in land use have implications for commodity production and trade, soil and water conservation, bioenergy supply, climate change adaptation, and many other policy issues. A complex set of factors, including commodity prices; production technology;

Why are some acres converted to urban uses?

Some acres are converted to urban uses to serve the needs of a growing population. These factors have combined to cause a long-term net decline in grazing acreage, from over 1 billion acres in 1949 to 741 million acres in 2007. Every year, some rural land is converted to developed uses.

How many acres are in the MLU?

Land in rural transportation, defense, and industrial uses is estimated at nearly 50 million acres, which are included in the MLU ‘special uses’ category. Together, about 214 million acres, or 9 percent of the land base, are in urban areas or in developed uses outside urban areas. You may also be interested in…

What percentage of land is used for agriculture?

Half of all habitable land is used for agriculture. 2. This leaves only 37% for forests; 11% as shrubs and grasslands; 1% as freshwater coverage; and the remaining 1% – a much smaller share than many suspect – is built-up urban area which includes cities, towns, villages, roads and other human infrastructure.

What are the two main uses of agricultural land?

There are two main uses of agricultural land: arable farming (which is land dedicated to growing crops), and pastureland ( which includes meadows and pastures used for livestock rearing). In the chart here we see a global map of land used for arable agriculture (as a share of total land area).

What is pastureland used for?

Pastureland (permanent meadows and pasture) For most countries, the majority of agricultural land is used for livestock rearing in the form of pastureland. In the map here we see the share of permanent meadows and pasture as a percentage of total land area.

What percentage of land is used for livestock grazing?

For most countries, land dedicated to cropland is typically below 20 percent , with many countries dedicating less than 10 percent. There are some notable exceptions, however; countries in South Asia and Europe allocate a large share of land area to arable farming. India, Bangladesh, Ukraine and Denmark all dedicated more than half of total land area to cropland in 2015.

What is the agricultural area?

The agricultural area is the sum of arable land, permanent crops, permanent meadows and pastures.

What is cropland measured in?

This visualisation shows total cropland (which does not include land for grazing) over the long-term, measured in hectares.

How much of the world’s land is livestock?

If we combine pastures used for grazing with land used to grow crops for animal feed, livestock accounts for 77% of global farming land.

How much land does an urban area take up?

It’s clear that even a little space goes a long way. Although urban areas take up only 2% of land, an overwhelming majority of Americans call cities their home. As of 2018, urbanites made up over 82% of the U.S. population.

How much land is in forests?

On the flipside, forests account for over a quarter of land in the U.S., divided almost evenly between deciduous and evergreen trees. Many protected national and state parks can also be found in and around forests.

How many bags of coffee will be produced in 2020?

According to the International Coffee Organization, a total of 169.6 million 60-kilogram bags of coffee were produced worldwide in 2020.

What are the three types of land?

Let’s dive into the specifics of three types of land: urban areas, forests, and agriculture.

How big is the United States?

Altogether, the country spans 3.8 million square miles (9.8 million km²)—making it the third largest country in the world. Even without factoring Alaska and Hawaii into the calculations, …

Which country produces the most beef?

At present, the U.S. is the world’s largest beef producer, followed by Brazil. In fact, beef production takes up 40% of total livestock-related land use domestically. Although fewer American consumers are opting for meat in their diets, production has remained at high rates.

Which state has the most forests?

Many protected national and state parks can also be found in and around forests. On the mainland, California and Oregon are the states with the most forested land—unfortunately, they have also been plagued by wildfires in recent, dry summer months.

How much land does a foreign investor own?

According to USDA data, foreign investors owned at least 35.2 million acres of U.S. agricultural land in 2019—2.7 percent of U.S. farmland, an area almost the size of Iowa. While foreign land ownership has been reported in all 50 states and Puerto Rico, the holdings are concentrated in particular states. The greatest share is in Texas, with over 4.4 million acres, followed by Maine (3.3 million acres) and Alabama (1.8 million acres). Over 40 percent of the additional 3.4 million acres acquired by foreign investors in 2019 was located in Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado.

Why do foreigners buy land?

Foreign entities buy agricultural land for a variety of reasons, such as food production, wind farming, carbon offsets, or speculative investments. In 2019, 49 percent of reported foreign-held acreage in the United States was forest land, while 25 percent was crop land, 24 percent was for pasture and other agricultural uses, and 2 percent was for non-agricultural uses (such as homesteads and roads). The USDA reports that the changes in pasture and crop land holdings since 2009 were mostly due to foreign-owned wind companies signing or terminating long-term leases.

Why are farmers unable to buy land?

For long-term U.S. food security , perhaps the larger concern is why up-and-coming U.S. farmers are unable to buy the land they need. According to the NYFC, young and aspiring farmers say access to land is their largest barrier to starting a successful farm business. With an aging U.S. farmer population and not enough new farmers able to enter the industry, more land will inevitably be converted to other uses or sold to foreign and domestic investors unless policies are put in place to support the next generation of farmers. Focusing narrowly on land purchases by Chinese companies or other foreign entities will not address the full scope of this problem. Policymakers should, instead, consider the many threats facing the future of the U.S. food system and ensure that current and aspiring farmers have the resources they need to secure long-term U.S. food production, starting with access to affordable farmland. In addition to federal action, some states, like Arizona, could do more to protect their local resources and communities from exploitation by domestic and foreign entities.

Which states have no restrictions on foreign ownership of land?

On the state level, regulations vary. Most states, like Texas and Maine, have no restrictions on foreign ownership of land, contributing to the large amount of farmland that is under foreign control in these states. Six states forbid any foreign landholdings, and some, like Missouri, put caps on how much land can be held by foreign entities.

How does land grabbing affect food security?

Land grabbing—when a government, company, or other entity purchases large swathes of land in another country—can affect local land rights and agricultural production, sometimes putting local food security at risk. While such purchases in low- and middle-income countries have been covered extensively, they also happen here in the United States. Foreign ownership of U.S. agricultural land doubled from 2009 to 2019, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) records, and policymakers have become increasingly concerned about foreign control of the U.S. food supply.

What percentage of land is used for agriculture?

Half of all habitable land is used for agriculture. 2. This leaves only 37% for forests; 11% as shrubs and grasslands; 1% as freshwater coverage; and the remaining 1% – a much smaller share than many suspect – is built-up urban area which includes cities, towns, villages, roads and other human infrastructure.

How much of the world’s land is livestock?

If we combine pastures used for grazing with land used to grow crops for animal feed, livestock accounts for 77% of global farming land. While livestock takes up most of the world’s agricultural land it only produces 18% …

How much protein is in animal products?

The global average per capita protein availability from vegetal products was 49 grams per person per day, and 32g from animal products. Animal products therefore accounted for [32 / (32 + 49) * 100] = 39% of the world’s protein.

What are the major uncertainties in the allocation of rangelands?

The major uncertainties – and explanation for discrepancies – in these assessments is the allocation of ‘rangelands’: in some regions it can be difficult to accurately quantify how much of rangelands are used for grazing, and how much is free from human pressure. Despite this uncertainty, most analyses tend to converge on an estimate of close to half of habitable land being used for agriculture.

How much of the world’s ice free land is used for farming?

If we rewind 1000 years, it is estimated that only 4 million square kilometers – less than 4% of the world’s ice-free and non-barren land area was used for farming. In the visualization we see the breakdown …

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