About those huge numbers, don’t just take my word for them. Supporting me are statistics reliably researched by folks who excel at that sort of thing — folks at the University of Florida, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and many other agencies.
For a snapshot of Florida agriculture, consider just a few of the numbers that put my “HUGE” description of the industry in good context.
• 1 — Florida’s national ranking in the value of production for fresh-market snap beans, fresh-market cucumbers, cucumbers for processing, grapefruit, oranges, sugarcane, fresh-market tomatoes, and watermelons (2016).
• 2 — Florida’s national ranking in the value of production for bell peppers, fresh-market sweet corn, squash, and strawberries (2016).
• 3 — Florida’s national ranking in the value of production for fresh-market cabbage and honey (2016).
• 7 — Florida’s ranking among the states with ag exports topping $4 billion (2014).
• 10 — Florida’s national ranking in beef cattle (2016).
• 47,100 — The number of Florida’s farms and ranches (2016).
• 1.62 million — The number of people working full- or part-time in agriculture, natural resources, and food industries in Florida (2015).
• 1.7 million — All cattle and calves on Florida farms and ranches (as of Jan. 1, 2017).
• 9.41 million — The acres occupied by Florida farms and ranches (2016).
• 15.4 million — Acres of Florida timberland (2014).
• 345 million — The total dollar value of Florida production of corn, cotton, cottonseed, hay, peanuts, soybeans, and wheat (2015).
• 825 million — All Florida citrus fruit on-tree sales (2016).
• 161 billion — Including natural resources and food industries, the 2015 dollar value of output or sales from agriculture, the Sunshine State’s second-leading industry behind tourism.
With big numbers like these, who can’t appreciate Florida agriculture and all the people involved with it?