The U.S. agribusiness industry is a major competitor in the global market, due to its strong workforce, market size, and infrastructure. The agribusiness industry encompasses subsectors such as agricultural chemicals, crop production, aquaculture, forestry and logging, and livestock (agricultural machinery and equipment is represented in the machinery and equipment industry page). The agribusiness industry contributed over $159 billion in export sales to the U.S. economy in 2018. In 2018, FDI in the U.S. agribusiness industry totaled more than $14 billion.
The U.S. agribusiness industry is expansive and provides important support to the economy and its workers. More than 2 million farms across the country cover over 900 million acres. The U.S. agribusiness industry produced $388.5 billion in agricultural products in 2017. The industry directly employs over 311,000 workers in farming, fishing, and forestry occupations as of May 2018 and more than 115,000 in other occupations such as engineering, production, and food science. In the same year, inward FDI in the U.S. agribusiness sector directly supported 14,700 jobs in the United States.
Investors in the U.S. agribusiness industry are supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s series of grade shields, official seals, and labels representing the quality and integrity of products such as beef, chicken, fruits and vegetables, eggs, and organic products.
Industry Subsectors
Agricultural Chemicals: the manufacturing, mixing, formulation, and preparation of fertilizers, pesticides, and other agricultural chemicals.
Agricultural Commodities: crop production, which produced $194 billion of goods in 2017. That year, the top agricultural commodities were corn and soybeans.
Aquaculture: the cultivation of aquatic organisms in controlled aquatic environments, both in marine and freshwater environments. Most U.S. aquaculture (70 percent) pertains to the freshwater farming of catfish and trout.
Forestry and logging: the establishment, management, use, and conservation of forests, trees, and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values.
Livestock: the production of animal goods such as meat, dairy, wool, and leather. In 2017, livestock commodities accounted for half of U.S. agricultural products with a value of $195 billion. Cattle and calves were the top livestock commodity in 2017, followed by poultry and eggs, and milk.
The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) provides leadership and funding for programs that advance agriculture-related sciences. It invests in and supports initiatives that ensure the long-term viability of agriculture. NIFA applies an integrated approach to ensure that groundbreaking discoveries in agriculture-related sciences and technologies reach the people who can put them into practice.