Reporting from this source, summarised, rewritten or translated and published under its name · 22 stories
EnvironmentAn ERS chart shows grazed forest-use land falling from 245 million acres in the late 1950s to 118 million acres in 2022, while land in rural parks, wildlife reserves and wilderness rose steadily.
VegetablesPumpkins are grown in all 50 states on about 15,000 farms, and 85% of the harvested area serves the fresh and ornamental market, USDA's Economic Research Service says.
VegetablesUSDA's Economic Research Service priced 93 fresh and processed vegetable products in 2023 and found 69 of them cost less than $1 per serving.
FruitsUS fresh apple exports reached 1.87 billion pounds in the 2025/26 marketing year, about 26% of fresh production, and a record $1.16 billion in value, with Mexico and Canada the largest buyers.
AgribusinessAverage US farm household income was 60% higher in 2023 than in 2019 and farm net worth 64% higher, driven mainly by income from farming rather than off-farm wages, an ERS chart shows.
AgribusinessERS's Global Food Assessment estimates 884.4 million people, 19.5% of the population of 83 low- and middle-income countries, are food insecure in 2026, with most countries improving on 2025 but Sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America facing persistent risks.
AgribusinessAveraged over 2007-18, about 40 percent of full-time-equivalent jobs in the US Cooperative Extension System went to agriculture and natural resources, the largest of its four program areas, an ERS chart shows.
FruitsFresh watermelon at 26 cents and bananas at 31 cents were the cheapest servings of fruit in US shops in 2023, while fresh blackberries, fresh raspberries and canned cherries were the most expensive.
EnvironmentIn 2023 the US food system relied on 27.7 trillion gallons of freshwater, 29.3 percent of all withdrawals, against 15.5 percent of the workforce and 10.8 percent of the country's energy.
AgribusinessEvery dollar of US agricultural exports supported $2.08 of total economic activity in 2024, the USDA Economic Research Service estimates, with processed goods adding the most.
CropsMore than 90 percent of US corn, cotton and soybean acres are now planted with at least one genetically engineered trait, according to the USDA Economic Research Service.
FruitsThe United States grew 3.87 billion pounds of watermelons in 2025, and Georgia moved ahead of Florida on more acres and above-average yields, a USDA Economic Research Service chart shows.
EnvironmentCounties in the northern Midwest and Northeast raised their share of tile-drained cropland by 8 percentage points or more between 2012 and 2022, USDA economists report.
