In looking at Pennsylvania the following are some of the highest ranked items compared to other US states: (state rank in parentheses)
1. Milk and dairy products (4)
2. Layers, poultry (4)
3. Nursery, greenhouse, floriculture and sod (4)
4. Corn for silage (5)
5. Cut Christmas trees (5)
6. Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys (6)
7. Tobacco (8)
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| (http://www.thirdage.com/image/cute-cow) |
In Pennsylvania the principle operator of a farm is 55.2 years old. The overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanian farmers are white, male and for 55% of them farming is not their primary occupation. PA farmers are young compared to the US average which is again predominantly white and male at 57.1 years old. However the “average” American farmer lives in the southwest and ranches cattle or grows grain primarily. Interestingly enough hog and dairy farmers are among the youngest American farmers with the average ages being around 50 and 51. Most importantly the majority of the US farming population is quickly moving into the 65+ category without another boom in the younger generations. (http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Online_Highlights/County_Profiles/Pennsylvania/cp99042.pdf) (http://www.agcensus.usda.gov/Publications/2007/Online_Highlights/Fact_Sheets/Demographics/farmer_age.pdf)
Looking at US and PA growth rates, the acreage of organic farms is decreasing. In PA the growth of organic acreage decreased from 28% to 25% (which is to imply that the number of acres of organic farms is increasing each year, they’re just not increasing as quickly). In the United States as a whole the growth rate decreased drastically from 46% in2006/2007 to 12% in 2007/2008.
(http://www.ers.usda.gov/StateFacts/US.htm) (http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets.aspx)
In the United States the average farm size is around 440 acres whereas in PA it rests around 130 acres. Over half of farmers in the US and PA have farms that are smaller than 100 acres. Of the less than half that have farms larger than 100 acres very few are greater than 500 acres. In PA less than one percent of farms are greater than 500, 1,000, or 2,000 acres (categories combined). However in the US, around 8% of farms are 500 to 1,000 acres, 6 to 4 percent are 1,000 to 2,000 acres and about 3% are greater than 2,000 acres. As a general statement, in the scope of the American view, Pennsylvania farms are ‘small’. With a more global sense, Pennsylvania farms are huge. According to information brief for the Future of Small Farms a “small” farm can be defined as two hectares or five acres among other socio-economic definitions. The following table describes average farm size by global region (data from: Nagayets, Oksana. "Small Farms: Current Status and Key Trends." . Wye College, June 2005. Web.)
World Region
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Average farm size, hectares/acres
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Africa
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1.6/4
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Asia
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1.6/4
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Latin American and Caribbean
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67/166
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Europe (Western only)
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27/67
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North America
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121/300
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(http://www.ers.usda.gov/StateFacts/US.htm) (http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets.aspx)
In Pennsylvania, the three top producing counties are Lancaster, Chester and Berks. The Top producing counties for the US are Fresno (6,000 sq. mi), Tulare (4,800 sq. mi), Kern (8,100 sq. mi), Merced (1,900 sq. mi) and Monterrey (3,300 sq. mi), all of California. The combined total area of the top producing US counties (24,000 sq. mi) accounts for about half the entire size of the state of Pennsylvania (about 46,0000 sq. mi).
(http://www.ers.usda.gov/StateFacts/US.htm) (http://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/state-fact-sheets.aspx) (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/42000.html) (http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/maps/california_map.html)
With a more global scope, looking at France specifically the most valuable commodity produced by France in international dollars is fresh whole cow milk, yet the most produced commodity is wheat followed most closely by sugar beets. France ranks first and second in the world for six commodities:
1. Sugar beets (1)
2. Flax fiber and tow (1)
3. Barley (1)
4. Mixed grain (2)
5. String beans (2)
6. Indigenous duck meat (2)
And in case you didn’t know, the US is ranked first and second for string beans and sugar beets, respectively. With regards to a specific crop, China produces the most apples in the world by a long shot. The United States and Turkey lag behind in second and third ranks, respectively. However the US leads the world in fresh, whole, cow milk production flowed by some of the BRIC countries in the following order: India, China, and Brazil. Interestingly enough France ranks seventh in apple production and fresh, whole, cow milk production.
Personally, some of the most surprising facts came from comparisons of what is considered “normal” in PA and the US and what is actually going on. For instance “small” farms in PA being less than 100 acres are actually huge compared to a global average farm size of 5 acres or even 67 acres in Western Europe (like France). Even within a country productivity can be localized to a specific region, like the huge amount of commodities and value California churns out in just five counties compared to PA. And finally the constant changing rankings of countries and the commodities they produce and how among the “developed” countries they’re not so different in their agricultural products.
Discussion Question(s): What did you find most interesting or surprising in comparing Pennsylvania to the United States or the United States to France? Did you expect them to be more similar or different, and in what ways? (Think of commodities produced and locations they come from.)
Our first weekly blog post. Nice job Grace!
ReplyDeleteI would add a couple of things:
(1) The rate of increase in organic acreage (for both PA and the entire US) is still very strong.
(2) France is listed as the fourth ranked producer (based on value) of wheat, leeks, and sunflower seeds. The are also the 5th ranked producer of rapeseed and grapes. These crops seem very French.