Florida Agriculture Profile: Where Do We Rank?

Despite boasting the country’s 4th largest economy overall, and citrus as a flagship commodity, Florida ranks 21st in the country in agricultural production by gross receipts. In 2021, the most recent reporting year by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Florida receipts totaled $7.7 billion. This represents merely 1.8% of the U.S.’ $436 billion farm sector.  

Most troubling for Florida is the state’s relative stagnation within this space—in 2008, state receipts totaled nearly $7.9 billion, good for 13th nationwide. Florida’s production has declined by $0.2 billion since. National agricultural production is up by $122 billion over the same period.  

Florida is chasing California, Texas, North Carolina, and much of the American Midwest as the country’s premier agricultural hubs. Working against the state is a limited supply of farmland (29th in farm acreage) competing with an increasingly dense population (8th in population density, greater than each of the top 10 Agriculture producing states).  

Per the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, the ten largest agriculture producers among Florida’s counties are: 

• Palm Beach ($901 million) 
• Miami-Dade ($838 million) 
• Hillsborough ($448 million) 
• Manatee ($360 million) 
• Hendry ($329 million) 
• Polk ($297 million) 
• Suwannee ($258 million) 
• Okeechobee ($236 million) 
• Orange ($232 million) 
• Lake ($216 million)