Agriculture Crop Production
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Industry Overview
The agricultural crop industry includes around 1.3 million farms with harvested cropland operating on 300 million harvested acres, with combined annual revenue of $175 billion. Major companies include produce farms owned by Dole Food Company and Fresh Del Monte Produce, and grain farms owned by Monsanto, Syngenta, and DuPont. As a whole, the industry is fragmented: 10 percent of companies account for one-third of revenue. Vegetable and melon farms are more concentrated, with the top 10 percent of companies representing two-thirds of industry revenue.
Crop farming is the growing and harvesting of field crops like grain, oilseed, tobacco, dry beans, and potatoes; vegetables and melons; fruits and nuts; and floriculture.
Competitive Landscape
Demand is driven by federal agricultural policy programs, food consumption trends, and the grain and oilseed export market. The profitability of individual companies depends on maximizing crop yield and minimizing disease risk. Large companies have advantages in highly automated technologies and access to the latest in seed and crop technologies. Small operations can compete effectively by harvesting heirloom, non-genetically modified (GM), or specialty products. The industry is highly labor-intensive: average annual revenue per employee (operator and hired laborers) is $100,000.
Products, Operations & Technology
Major products are corn for grain (30 percent of industry revenue); soybeans (15 percent); fruits and nuts (10 percent); and hay (10 percent). Other major crops include wheat, vegetables and melons, cotton, and potatoes. Of all farms, 15 percent are grain or oilseed, accounting for two-thirds of all cropland revenue and 40 percent of all US farm earnings.
Crop farming operations consist of soil preparation; planting; application of fertilizer, pesticides, and water; and harvesting. Most farmers concentrate on one or a few crops, depending on local soil, weather, and water conditions. Many farms harvest multiple crops multiple times during the year. Corn for grain is planted in spring after the danger of frost has passed, while wheat is planted in fall to allow its root system to develop over the winter.
Grain and oilseed farmers commonly practice crop rotation, typically alternating between plantings of grain corn and soybeans. Planting these two crops in succession improves weed control, lowers pest and disease risk, and requires less fertilizer.
Farmers must accurately measure the number of seeds per acre: crowded seeds can delay maturity and stunt growth, while low plant populations result in poor yields. Farmers closely monitor crop yield per acre, which is affected by weather, fertilizer, and pesticide applications and proper crop and seed selection. Yields can fluctuate yearly. For most crops, plants are harvested when moisture content drops to a certain level.
Most crop farms are highly mechanized for activities like tilling, planting, and applying fertilizer. Harvesting is often done using specialized machinery, but also may require large amounts of manual labor, depending on the crop. One-third of all grain and oilseed farms require farm labor beyond the operator's own contribution.
The average grain or oilseed farm is 700 acres. Vegetable and melon farms average 325 acres; fruit and nut farms, 120.
Common inputs include seed, fertilizer, chemicals for weed control, fuel, electricity, machinery, and repairs. Recent technological advances include new strains of hybridized and GM seed and improved fertilizers and chemicals for controlling weeds, pests, and disease. Farm machine innovations have improved seed planting, threshing, and the transfer of grains and oilseeds to silos and elevators. New GPS guidance and autosteer technologies can improve crop yield.