ERS Charts of Note
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Wednesday, June 26, 2024
U.S. cropland is increasingly being covered by crop insurance, according to data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture published by USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. From 2017 to 2022, the share of cropland acres covered by any Federal, private, or other crop insurance program grew, particularly among small- to medium-sized farms. While percent share of cropland acres with crop insurance across all farms has risen by almost 9 percent, smaller farms have experienced higher growth rates. Farms operating 70 to 99.9 acres saw the largest gains in coverage, with the share of insured acres rising by more than 20 percent from 2017 to 2022. This trend is consistent across other small to medium-sized farm sizes, notably those between 10 to 69.9 acres, which on aggregate saw growth rates in coverage surpassing 15 percent. Rising participation rates indicate expanding use of crop insurance products to manage risks faced by smaller agricultural operations. For more information, see the USDA, Economic Research Service topic page, Crop Insurance at a Glance.
Tuesday, June 25, 2024
Created in 1916, the Federal estate tax is a tax on the transfer of property to a person’s heirs upon death. In 2023, the Federal estate tax exemption amount was $12.92 million per person, and the Federal estate tax rate was 40 percent. By law, the estate of a person who owns assets above the exemption amount at death must file a Federal estate tax return. However, only returns that have an estate above the exemption after deductions for expenses, debts, and bequests will pay Federal estate tax. Researchers from USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) estimate that 39,988 estates would have been created from principal operator deaths in 2023. ERS forecasts that 330 (about 0.8 percent) of those estates would have been required to file an estate tax return, and 89 (about 0.2 percent) would likely have owed Federal estate tax. Total Federal estate tax liabilities from the 89 farm estates owing taxes are forecast to be $473 million in 2023. The exemption amount increased to $13.61 million per person in 2024, because of an annual inflation adjustment. This chart appears in the ERS topic page Federal Estate Taxes, published in April 2024.
Monday, June 24, 2024
Data from the USDA Census of Agriculture report that farmland values tend to be higher along the coasts and a stretch from Iowa to Ohio, often called the Corn Belt. Lower average county farmland values in the Mountain States (States that encompass the Rocky Mountains) and Great Plains (the area just east of the Rocky Mountains) are likely because of their high share of pastureland, typically valued below that of cropland. Conducted every 5 years by USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), the Census of Agriculture includes producer responses to questions about their farming operations on a range of topics, including the value of farmland they operate. The national average value per acre of farmland (including buildings) was $3,846 in 2022. Farmland values increased 10 percent after adjusting for inflation (using the Gross Domestic Product Price Index) when compared with the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Farmland tends to be more valuable in States where cropland is more productive and the value of production is higher, such as in the Corn Belt. The map also shows that farmland values increase in counties in the immediate vicinity of urban areas or with higher population density overall, reflecting competition with residential and other nonagricultural land uses. For more details on farmland values, see USDA, Economic Research Service’s Farmland Value topic page. For more details from the 2022 Census of Agriculture, see the NASS Census of Agriculture page.
Thursday, June 20, 2024
Since 2000, U.S. fresh tomato import volumes have grown by 176 percent. Over the last two decades, nearly all import growth has stemmed from tomatoes that were grown in greenhouses. In the early 2000s, greenhouse fresh tomatoes represented about 14 percent of fresh tomato import volume and 23 percent of value. By the early 2020s, greenhouse tomatoes represented 60 percent of total fresh tomato import volume and 59 percent of value. The increase was driven primarily by expansion of year-round greenhouse tomato production in Mexico, the foremost supplier of tomatoes to the United States. While greenhouse tomato production in the United States has also expanded during this time, imports accounted for an estimated 88 percent of the domestic greenhouse tomato supply in 2023. The share of greenhouse-grown tomato imports varies by tomato variety. In 2023, almost 80 percent of all cherry and grape tomato imports were greenhouse-grown, compared with one-third of total Roma tomato imports. This chart is based on the USDA, Economic Research Service Vegetable and Pulses Outlook: April 2024.
Tuesday, June 18, 2024
The average size of Black- or African-American-operated farms reached a record high of 163 acres in 2022. USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) Census of Agriculture data report Black or African-American producers operated 32,700 farms and ranches covering about 5.3 million acres in 2022. A farm is defined as Black- or African-American-operated if at least one producer identifies as Black or African American alone or in combination with other races. The number of Black- or African-American-operated farms rapidly decreased from 1920 through 1978, after which the number of farms varied with a downward trend. Since 1997, there has been a gradual increase in the number of acres operated by Black farmers, although it remains below the 41.4 million acres operated in 1920. Black- or African-American-operated farms are most concentrated in the South (46.5 percent are in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina) compared with all other U.S. regions in 2022. Black or African-American farmers are more likely to produce livestock than White farmers, as the latter are more likely to be in crop production. For more details from the 2022 Census of Agriculture, see the NASS Census of Agriculture website. For more information on Black or African-American farmers, see USDA, Economic Research Service’s Socially Disadvantaged, Beginning, Limited Resource, and Female Farmers and Ranchers topic page.
Monday, June 17, 2024
More than half of dairy operations that plant cover crops reported harvesting all their cover crop acreage for forage or other on-farm use between 2018 and 2020. While not all dairy operations have cropland, many of those who plant cover crops use them to provide feed for their herd, such as by harvesting a cover crop like cereal rye or triticale for silage to later feed to dairy cattle. Cover crops can also be planted and left unharvested to improve water quality and soil health. From 2018 to 2020, the Agricultural Resource Management Survey asked producers how many acres of cover crops they harvested for forage or other on-farm use, and how many acres of cover crops went unharvested. Exclusively harvesting cover crops was relatively more common in the Fruitful Rim and Heartland regions, where 63 percent of dairy operations only harvested acreage of cover crops in each region. The Northern Crescent had a higher proportion of dairy operations that only reported unharvested cover crops (31 percent). Information on cover crop practices can be found in the USDA, Economic Research Service report Cover Crops on Livestock Operations: Potential for Expansion in the United States, published in May 2024.
Thursday, June 13, 2024
The share of food spending at restaurants and similar food-away-from-home (FAFH) establishments has generally increased over time in the United States, although this trend varies across States. Hawaii, Nevada, and Washington, DC, stand out as outliers in terms of the share of per capita FAFH sales. In 1997, FAFH sales stood notably higher in Washington, DC at 73.5 percent, Nevada at 59.0 percent, and Hawaii at 56.2 percent than in other States at 41.6 percent. Each of those numbers grew by 2023 to 76.2 percent in Washington, DC, 63.9 percent in Nevada, 63.5 percent in Hawaii, and 53.0 percent in other States. The three outliers experienced more significant disruptions in food spending patterns in 2020 during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In Washington, DC, the share of FAFH sales fell 9.1 percentage points from 2019 to 2020, while Hawaii and Nevada’s share decreased 9.0 percentage points and 7.5 percentage points, respectively. The eating-out share in other States decreased 4.6 percentage points in that period. In most States, the FAFH share grew rapidly from 2020 to 2023. Nevada’s and Hawaii’s share grew at least 8 percentage points over the three years, while all other States grew 6.9 percentage points, on average. While Washington, DC’s FAFH share grew 7 percentage points over the period, it remained more than 12 percentage points higher than Nevada’s and Hawaii’s in 2023. This chart is drawn from USDA, Economic Research Service’s State-level Food Expenditure Series and the Amber Waves article Analyzing Food Sales Trends at the State Level Using New Series, published June 2024.
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Federal spending on USDA’s food and nutrition assistance programs totaled $166.4 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2023, down 13 percent from $191.1 billion in FY 2022 and 18 percent from the peak of $202.4 billion in FY 2021 when adjusted for inflation to 2023 dollars. In FY 2023, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) spending fell 9 percent from the previous year’s inflation-adjusted amount to $112.8 billion despite an increase in participation and maximum benefit levels. This decline occurred because of the nationwide end of emergency allotments, which had temporarily raised all recipients’ benefits to at least the maximum for their household size beginning in March 2020. Spending on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) totaled $6.6 billion—an increase of 11 percent from inflation-adjusted spending in FY 2022—reflecting increases in program participation and food costs per participant. Combined spending on child nutrition programs totaled $26.9 billion in FY 2023, falling 24 percent from the inflation-adjusted total in the previous year. FY 2023 marked the first full fiscal year of child nutrition program operation after Federal waivers allowing schools to serve free meals to all students and raising Federal reimbursements for each free meal served expired at the end of June 2022. Combined spending on other programs fell in FY 2023 primarily because of lower spending on Pandemic Electronic Benefit Transfer (P-EBT) in its final year of operation. This chart is based on data available as of December 2023 and appears in the USDA, Economic Research Service’s Food and Nutrition Assistance Landscape: Fiscal Year 2023 Annual Report, released June 2024.
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Changes in technology and higher seed costs have shifted the way farmers plant soybeans in the United States. Between 1997 and 2018, soybean seeding rates—the number of seeds planted per acre—declined by 22 percent on U.S. farms. In 1997, farmers planted an average of more than 200,000 soybean seeds per acre. The seeding rate fell to about 192,000 in 2002, then to 175,000 in 2006, 165,000 in 2012, and finally to 157,000 in 2018. The decline in seeding rates was accompanied by an increase in row widths, or the distance between planting rows. From 1997 to 2002, the average U.S. soybean row width declined from 17 inches to 16 inches. Average row widths subsequently increased to 18 inches in 2006 and to 20 inches in 2012. The average row width remained at about 20 inches in 2018. In addition to fewer rows being planted per acre in recent years, other factors are linked with the decline in soybean seeding rates, such as planting method. The two most commonly used planting methods for soybeans are drilling and planting in rows using conventional planters. Drills tend to plant seeds closer together and in narrower rows than conventional planters and are thus associated with higher seeding rates. Over time, a higher share of U.S. soybean acres has been planted using conventional planters than drilling. In addition, seed technologies have changed over time; for instance, the planting of genetically engineered (GE) seed became more common during this period. Finally, the cost of seed on a per acre basis has increased, creating incentives for farmers to plant fewer seeds. Researchers in a 2023 USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) study found that as soybean production practices changed, yields also rose. From 2002 to 2018, U.S. soybean yields increased by 30 percent. This chart first appeared in the ERS Oil Crops Outlook: May 2024.
Monday, June 10, 2024
Researchers with USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) studying data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that for less populated counties, the natural-cause mortality rates increased for both sexes of prime working-age people. ERS researchers used data on disease-related deaths, such as heart disease and cancer (natural-cause mortality) to compare changes across the rural-urban spectrum for the prime working-age population (those aged 25 to 54). They found the more rural the county, the greater the increase (or smaller the decrease) in natural-cause mortality rates, particularly for females. Data from two, 3-year periods show natural-cause mortality rates in large metropolitan counties decreased for females and males by 23 and 30 percent, respectively. In the most rural counties, natural-cause mortality rates increased 18 percent for females and 3 percent for males. Across all rural counties, the increases for females were far greater than the changes experienced among males. This chart appears in the ERS report The Nature of the Rural-Urban Mortality Gap, published in March 2024.
Thursday, June 6, 2024
Globally, poultry is the most imported livestock commodity by volume. Rising incomes, growing populations, and increasing urbanization all contribute to increasing poultry consumption, especially in markets where local production is often unable to keep pace with accelerating demand. Historically, Asia has been the largest importer of chicken meat by volume. In 2022, the region imported more than 3.4 million metric tons. The Middle East was the second largest importer of chicken meat in 2022, with imports of nearly 2.0 million metric tons, followed by Europe with 1.7 million metric tons. Over the past two decades, however, Africa has become an increasingly important market for global poultry trade. Africa’s poultry imports grew by more than 850 percent from just under 0.2 million metric tons in 1999 to more than 1.5 million metric tons in 2022. This chart is drawn from the USDA, Economic Research Service report, Evaluating the Effects of Nontariff Measures on Poultry Trade, May 2024.
Wednesday, June 5, 2024
U.S. farms have increasingly relied on agricultural services establishments to undertake production activities, such as soil preparation, planting, harvesting, livestock breeding, providing farm workers, and managing operations, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2022 Economic Census. From 1978 to 2022, establishments in the agricultural services sector in the United States saw a 263-percent increase in the value of their receipts (adjusted for inflation to 2022 dollars), from about $16.3 billion to $59.3 billion. For comparison, the inflation-adjusted value of receipts from farms increased 12 percent over the same period when compared with recently released farm data from USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture. Although the contribution of agricultural services providers to the farm economy has grown, the number of active establishments declined over the same period. There were 10 percent fewer establishments in 2022 than in 1978, according to the Economic Census. The increased concentration within agricultural services is a phenomenon that has also been documented for farms—the number of farms fell 23 percent between 1978 and 2022, from about 2.5 million to 1.9 million. Researchers are able to describe these important trends because, for the first time since 1978, the 2022 Economic Census includes data on businesses that provide agricultural support services. USDA, Economic Research Service researchers supported those efforts to resume data collection of agricultural services and are collaborating with Census Bureau staff on future data releases based on survey responses. For more information on the U.S. farm sector, see the ERS topic page Farm Economy, last updated in September 2023.
Tuesday, June 4, 2024
Compared to urban independent grocery stores, rural independent grocery stores were nearly three times more likely to close following the opening of a new dollar store in the same census tract from 2000–19. Using proprietary data from the National Establishment Time Series (NETS) database and the ERS Rural-Urban Commuting Area (RUCA) Codes, researchers from USDA Economic Research Service (ERS), North Dakota State University, and the University of Connecticut examined how entry of new dollar stores in urban and rural census tracts affected the number, employment, and sales statistics of independent grocery stores in these areas from 2000–19. When a new dollar store opened in a rural area, the likelihood of an independent grocery store closing was 5 percent, which was nearly three times greater than in urban areas (1.7 percent). Similarly, the decline in employment at independent grocers in rural census tracts was about 2.5 times as large as in urban tracts (7.1 percent versus 2.8 percent, respectively). Sales declined 9.2 percent at independent grocery stores in rural areas, which was nearly double the decline in urban areas (4.7 percent). Researchers also found that these changes waned in urban areas about 5 years after a new dollar store’s opening, whereas the effects continued in rural areas, indicating longer term impacts. This chart appears in the ERS Amber Waves article, Dollar Store Entry Affects Rural Grocery Stores More Than Urban, published May 2024.
Monday, June 3, 2024
Researchers with USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) examined survey data to identify how producers who planted cover crops, such as rye or winter wheat, used them. Unharvested cover crops are often left in the field to provide residue cover or to add organic matter to the soil. Cover crops can also be used for livestock forage, such as when livestock graze in the spring or fall, or can be mechanically harvested in the spring and stored as haylage or silage. Researchers found that in 2021, 89 percent of cow-calf operations and 72 percent of dairy operations with cover crops reported using at least some of their cover crop acreage for forage, either through harvesting or grazing. The high proportions of livestock producers who used cover crops for forage suggests that their value as forage is an important factor in cover crop adoption for these operations, especially in cow-calf operations. Dairy operations were more likely to harvest cover crops than graze them. One of the reasons for this is because dairy cows often consume at least a portion of rations as harvested hay or silage in a barn or milking parlor. This contrasts with cow-calf operations, where cattle are more likely to graze on pasture than be fed in a barn. Dairy operations also commonly harvest and store corn silage, so they may be more likely to have the equipment and experience necessary to harvest and store cover crops as haylage or silage. Even among operations without livestock, harvesting cover crops for forage is relatively common, with 41 percent of operations without livestock reporting harvesting cover crops for forage. Information on cover crop practices in livestock operations can be found in the ERS report Cover Crops on Livestock Operations: Potential for Expansion in the United States, published in May 2024.
Thursday, May 30, 2024
USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) recently estimated average retail prices paid by U.S. consumers in 2022 for 93 fresh and processed vegetable products. These prices are reported in cup equivalents, the unit in which Federal dietary recommendations for this food group are stated. Across the 93 vegetables, 19 cost less than 50 cents per cup equivalent, including baked white potatoes (27 cents), iceberg lettuce (32 cents), and onions (43 cents). Another 54 vegetable products cost between 50 and 99 cents per cup equivalent. These products included romaine lettuce (51 cents) and large round tomatoes (90 cents). In 2022, the most expensive vegetable product for U.S. consumers was frozen asparagus at $2.62 per cup equivalent. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2020-2025 recommends individuals with a 2,000 calorie per day diet consume 2.5 cup equivalents of vegetables each day. U.S. consumers have historically fallen short. ERS estimated an average of 1.5 cups of vegetables and legumes were consumed on a given day in 2017–18. People choose foods based on taste, convenience, and other factors in addition to dietary recommendations. Cost, in particular, has been cited as a possible barrier to increasing vegetable intake. This chart is drawn from the ERS Fruit and Vegetable Prices data product, updated May 23, 2024.
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
As of 2020, large-scale, commercial wind energy development in the contiguous United States has been concentrated in areas with consistent, high wind speeds. Wind turbines are most prominent in the Plains, followed by the Midwest and West. While the regional distribution of wind energy development is influenced by State-level energy policy, one of the most important factors for development is the wind potential in a region. Some regions, such as the South, lack sufficient wind potential for large-scale development. USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) researchers found that 90 percent of wind turbines in rural areas were installed on agricultural land (crop, pasture, or range land). Because the amount of land cover directly affected by wind turbines was small relative to the amount of farmland, and because farmers and ranchers can typically continue agricultural production near wind turbines after they are installed, land cover changed on only 4.8 percent of sites after installation. Some of this change was from one agricultural use to another, such as from cropland to pasture. The estimated footprint for wind farms was roughly 88,000 acres in 2020. For more about the expansion of wind and solar in rural areas of the contiguous United States, the regional distribution of renewable energy development, and the land cover change associated with development, see the ERS report Utility-Scale Solar and Wind Development in Rural Areas: Land Cover Change (2009–20), released in May 2024.
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
The U.S. Renewable Fuel Standard, a program that originated in the mid-2000s, mandates that a specific volume of certain biofuels be used each year in transportation fuel. One category of biofuels included in this mandate is biomass-based diesel. For many years, this portion of the biofuels mandate was filled by biodiesel, which is produced using fats such as soybean oil, corn oil, yellow grease, or tallow and must be blended with traditional diesel. Production of biodiesel grew steadily beginning in the early 2000s to a peak of 1.8 billion gallons during the 2018/19 marketing year for soybean oil (October–September) but has declined slightly to 1.7 billion gallons in 2022/23. Renewable diesel has displaced biodiesel’s share of the market. Renewable diesel can be produced from similar fats as biodiesel, but unlike biodiesel, renewable diesel is a “drop in” biofuel, meaning it does not need to be blended with traditional diesel. Production of renewable diesel has grown from 40 million gallons in the 2010/11 marketing year to 2.3 billion gallons in 2022/23, surpassing biodiesel production for the first time. Combined, biodiesel and renewable diesel pushed total biomass-based diesel production to an all-time high in 2022/23. As this portion of the biofuels sector has mostly expanded since 2001/02, an increasing share of soybean oil produced in the United States is now used for biofuel, growing from less than 1 percent in 2001/02 to 46 percent in 2022/23. This chart was drawn from the USDA, Economic Research Service data product, U.S. Bioenergy Statistics.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
Solar energy development has been concentrated in the Atlantic and West regions of the United States, especially in California, North Carolina, and Massachusetts. These States are among those with policies that have promoted renewable energy development—much of it occurring in rural areas. Between 2016 and 2020, utility-scale solar capacity in rural areas more than doubled, increasing to 45 gigawatts, 3.7 percent of U.S. electric power capacity, and the number of solar projects increased from 2,316 to 3,364. Roughly 70 percent of the solar projects installed between 2009 and 2020 in rural areas were located on agricultural land. About 336,000 acres of rural land were estimated to have been directly affected by solar development. For more about the expansion of solar and wind in rural areas of the contiguous United States, the regional distribution of renewable energy development, and the land cover change associated with development, see the USDA, Economic Research Service report Utility-Scale Solar and Wind Development in Rural Areas: Land Cover Change (2009–20), released in May 2024.
Wednesday, May 22, 2024
Thirty-nine percent of the 880 million acres of U.S. farmland in 2022 was rented or leased, a similar rate to that in 2017, according to new data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture. Over the past 50 years, the share of farmland rented across the nation has been relatively stable, with a slight but noticeable increase during the farm financial crisis of the 1980s. In general, rental activity is concentrated in grain production areas, with cash grains such as rice, corn, soybeans, and wheat commonly being grown in areas where more than 50 percent of farmland is rented. The region along the Mississippi River is home to the majority of U.S. rice production, while corn and soybeans dominate the Corn Belt, and corn and wheat dominate the Northern Plains. In 2022, higher rates of farmland rental were reported in counties along the Mississippi River, as well as in the Corn Belt and the Northern Plains. Higher rates of farmland rental are concentrated in areas where farms tend to be larger. Roughly two-thirds (68 percent) of rented farmland is on operations with 2,000 acres or more. According to USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) studies, more than half the cropland in the contiguous U.S. is rented, but just over a quarter of pastureland is rented. For more information on farmland ownership and tenure, see the ERS topic page Land Use, Land Value & Tenure.
Tuesday, May 21, 2024
The amount of vegetables available for consumption in the United States decreased 13 percent to 359.1 pounds per capita in 2022 from 413.9 pounds in 2003. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans Healthy Eating Patterns divide vegetables into five subgroups based on their nutrient content: pulses (dry beans, peas, lentils), dark green, other vegetables, red and orange (including tomatoes), and starchy (including potatoes). Each offers an array of important vitamins, minerals, and dietary fiber. Potatoes and tomatoes were further separated into individual subgroups because of their popularity. Potatoes, tomatoes, and the other vegetables subgroup accounted for the largest shares of the total during the 20-year period at more than 20 percent each. The combined share of starchy (excluding potatoes), tomatoes, other vegetables, and potatoes declined to 78 percent of the total in 2022 from nearly 84 percent in 2003. Across the last two decades, the combined share of pulses, red and orange (excluding tomatoes), and dark green vegetables available in the U.S. food supply increased to nearly 22 percent from 16 percent of the total. The availability of pulses increased the most during this period, led by a 243-percent jump in dry peas. However, pulses made up less than 3 percent of total vegetable availability in 2022. This chart uses data from USDA, Economic Research Service’s Food Availability (Per Capita) Data System, which provides annual estimates of the per capita availability for more than 200 food commodities consumed in the United States, updated in May 2024.