AgricultureID

Country agriculture profile · North America

United States

The United States is one of the world’s largest and most mechanised agricultural producers and a leading exporter of maize, soybean, wheat, and cotton. Production is highly capitalised and specialised by region, from the rainfed maize–soybean systems of the Corn Belt to irrigated horticulture in California and extensive cattle ranching across the Great Plains and West. A dense infrastructure of federal research, extension, statistics, and crop-insurance institutions underpins the sector.

Stable overview + dated statistics13 subnational regions →Updated: 2026-07-12

Farming systems (stable overview)

Climate zones

  • Humid continental
  • Humid subtropical
  • Mediterranean (California)
  • Semi-arid (Great Plains)
  • Arid (Southwest)

Agroecological zones

  • Corn Belt (Upper Midwest)
  • Great Plains wheat belt
  • Mississippi Delta
  • Central Valley of California
  • Pacific Northwest

Dominant crop systems

  • Rainfed maize–soybean rotations across the Corn Belt
  • Rainfed and irrigated wheat on the Great Plains
  • Irrigated horticulture, tree nuts, and permanent crops in California
  • Cotton and rice in the South and Mississippi Delta

Major livestock systems

  • Cow–calf ranching and cattle feedlot finishing
  • Intensive confined broiler and layer poultry
  • Confined swine concentrated in the Midwest
  • Large-scale dairy

Irrigation: Irrigation is regionally decisive — extensive in the arid and semi-arid West (drawing on rivers and the Ogallala/High Plains aquifer) while eastern production remains largely rainfed.

Latest verified data

Each value is the most recent available observation, shown with its own year and unit. Figures are periodically revised — treat them as dated, sourced statistics, not evergreen facts.

Latest available agricultural indicators, with year and unit
IndicatorValueUnitYear
Agricultural land46.08% of land area2023
Arable land16.57% of land area2023
Cereal yield8,413.5kg per hectare2024
Cereal production454,987,916.06metric tons2024
Agriculture value added0.94% of GDP2021
Employment in agriculture(est.)1.57% of total employment2024
Fertilizer consumption127.8kg per hectare of arable land2023
Irrigated agricultural land5.1% of agricultural land2023

Source: World Bank Open Data (World Development Indicators) (opens in a new tab) · dataset version 2026-07-01 · retrieved 2026-07-12

Cereal yield over time

201320192024
United States — Cereal yield (kg per hectare). Bars start at zero.
Show data table
United States — Cereal yield in kg per hectare by year
Yearkg per hectare
20137,300.9
20147,638.1
20157,430.1
20168,614.2
20178,281.3
20188,196
20198,005.5
20208,144.8
20218,246.5
20228,065.8
20238,330
20248,413.5

Source: World Bank Open Data (World Development Indicators) (opens in a new tab) · dataset version 2026-07-01 · retrieved 2026-07-12

Derived indicator

Arable land as a share of agricultural land: 36 % of agricultural land (2023)

Derived value — formula arable-share-of-agricultural-land v1.0.0 (calc v1). Inputs: AG.LND.ARBL.ZS (16.6) ÷ AG.LND.AGRI.ZS (46.1). A derived ratio, not an observed statistic. Sensitive to rounding and to differing revision cycles of the two source series; omit rather than extrapolate when a common year is unavailable.

Documented crops & livestock

Agricultural institutions

  • United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) — Federal department for agriculture, food, and rural policy.
  • USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) — Official U.S. agricultural statistics and the Census of Agriculture.
  • USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) — Principal in-house research agency of the USDA.

Data coverage & limitations

Covered by the World Bank WDI snapshots for land, production, yield, economy, inputs, and environment indicators.

  • Statistics are dated, versioned, and periodically revised; always read them with their year and dataset version.
  • National statistical definitions (of agricultural land, farm, and employment) differ from those of other countries, limiting strict cross-country comparison.
  • National aggregates conceal very large regional differences in climate, water availability, and farm structure.

Sources

This article draws on the following authoritative sources. See our sources & methodology for how they are selected.

  1. [1]World Bank Open Data — World Development Indicators (opens in a new tab)

    World Bank

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Agricultural statistics (WDI)

    Type:
    Intergovernmental organization
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  2. [2]FAO — Food and Agriculture Organization (opens in a new tab)

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Global production and food-systems context

    Type:
    Intergovernmental organization
    Jurisdiction:
    Global
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  3. [3]USDA NASS — National Agricultural Statistics Service (opens in a new tab)

    USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: Official U.S. agricultural statistics

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    United States
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12
  4. [4]USDA FAS — Foreign Agricultural Service (opens in a new tab)

    USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS)

    Authoritative

    Cited for: International trade and production estimates

    Type:
    Government agency
    Jurisdiction:
    Global (U.S. perspective)
    Accessed:
    2026-07-12