Advantages of Agriculture: 10 Benefits With USDA Data

The main advantages of agriculture are a steady food supply, jobs, export income, more output from the same inputs, and a base for rural communities. In the United States, agriculture, food and related industries added about $1.537 trillion to GDP in 2023, a 5.5% share, and farm output alone added $222.3 billion, about 0.8% (USDA Economic Research Service). Worldwide, farming employs about 26% of all workers but produces about 4% of GDP.

This guide gives ten advantages of agriculture, each with a dated number from a named source. It also shows where the picture is less rosy, such as a US farm trade deficit and income that depends on off-farm work. Use the charts to compare countries, and the calculator to size the water your own irrigated land uses.

Advantages of agriculture at a glance

The table lists the ten advantages and the strongest number we found for each. Every row has its own section below.

Advantages of agriculture by country

The size of the advantage depends on how you count it. The table uses one World Bank definition for all places: agriculture, forestry and fishing value added as a share of GDP, and the modeled International Labour Organization estimate of the share of jobs. The US job share here differs from the ERS farm payroll count above, because the two use different definitions.

Read the two columns together. Where the job share is much larger than the GDP share, as in the world total, farm work is common but each worker adds less value. Where the two are close, as in Australia, farming’s share of output is about the same as its share of jobs. Source: World Bank, agriculture value added, retrieved October 2026.

How we checked the numbers

All US figures come from USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) and National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) pages that we opened in October 2026. World and country comparisons come from the World Bank’s indicator database, and hunger figures come from the UN’s State of Food Security and Nutrition report. Where a source covers only part of the picture, we say so next to the number. Money is in US dollars and is not adjusted for inflation unless stated; the Canadian figure is in Canadian dollars.

1. Food supply that stays on the shelf

Agriculture’s first advantage is the plain one: it grows the food people eat. The UN’s 2025 food security report estimates that 8.2% of the world’s people, about 673 million, went hungry in 2024, down from 8.5% in 2023 and 8.7% in 2022 (FAO and four other UN agencies). The same report says 28.0% of people, about 2.3 billion, faced moderate or severe food insecurity. Hunger fell in southern Asia and Latin America but kept rising across much of Africa and western Asia, so supply is not yet secure everywhere.

For US households, food is a modest part of the budget. Food took 12.9% of average household spending in 2024, down from 13.3% in 2004, and ranked third behind housing and transportation (USDA ERS). That figure covers all food spending, including restaurants.

Domestic farms are not the whole supply. US agricultural imports were $212 billion in 2025, just below the 2024 record of $213 billion, and 98% of that value was high-value goods such as fruit, vegetables, beverages and processed foods. Many of these are tropical or off-season products that are hard to grow in the United States (USDA ERS trade page, 2026). A stable food supply therefore rests on farms at home and trade with other countries.

2. Jobs on and around the farm

US wage and salary employment in agriculture rose from 1.07 million jobs in 2010 to 1.18 million in 2024, a gain of 10%. Crop support services, such as custom harvesting and labor contracting, added about 48,400 jobs (+17%), and the livestock sector added about 42,000 (+19%), according to the USDA ERS chart on farm employment. The data come from unemployment insurance records, so they leave out small farm employers in states that exempt them.

Farming matters far more for jobs in some places than others. The World Bank, using modeled International Labour Organization estimates, puts agriculture’s share of world employment at 25.8% in 2025, down from 27.2% in 2020. In the United States the share was 1.5%, in Canada 1.1%, in Australia 2.2%, in the United Kingdom 0.9% and in the European Union 3.2% (World Bank, employment in agriculture). Rich countries produce food with few workers, which frees people for other jobs.

Chart

Agriculture’s share of world jobs and GDP

Percent of world total, 2020 to 2025

3. A bigger economic footprint than the farm gate shows

Farms add direct value, and the industries around them add more, because a bag of corn becomes feed, flour, fuel or sweetener only after trucks, mills and plants handle it. ERS counts agriculture, food and related industries at roughly $1.537 trillion of 2023 GDP, or 5.5%. Farm output itself was $222.3 billion, about 0.8%. The related sectors include food and beverage manufacturing, food stores, restaurants, textiles and apparel, and forestry and fishing. Dividing the two totals gives about 6.9, but that is a ratio of two totals, not a measure of how much activity one extra farm dollar creates.

Canada counts its sector in a similar way. In 2025, Canada’s agriculture and agri-food system generated C$158 billion of GDP (Canadian dollars), around 7% of the total, and employed about 2.3 million people (Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada). Primary farming is a much smaller slice, as the chart shows.

Chart

Agriculture’s share of GDP and of jobs, 2021

Percent; agriculture, forestry and fishing value added, and modeled ILO share of employment

4. Export income and trading partners

US agricultural exports were $171 billion in 2025, below the 2022 peak but 71% high-value goods: $121 billion of meats, dairy, tree nuts and similar products, up from 56% of exports in 1990 (USDA ERS, agricultural trade). Bulk goods such as grains and oilseeds made up the other 29%, or $50 billion.

The same page corrects a common claim. The US farm trade balance was positive for nearly 60 years, but the balance began shifting to a deficit in 2019, and in 2025 imports exceeded exports by $41 billion. Exports grew 2.3% a year from 2015 to 2025, while imports grew 5.8%. So exports are an advantage for farmers and rural regions, not proof that the country is a net food exporter.

The 2025 market mix shows why many buyers matter. The top five markets (Mexico, Canada, the European Union, Japan and South Korea) took 56% of exports, down from 62% in 2024. Exports to Canada fell 4% to $28.2 billion, exports to the European Union rose 13% to a record $14.5 billion, and exports to China fell 66% to $8.4 billion after new tariffs.

Chart

US agricultural trade, selected 2025 figures

US$ billion, current dollars, calendar year 2025

5. More output from the same inputs

ERS measures farm productivity as output divided by all inputs, including land, labor, capital and materials such as fertilizer. US farm output in 2023 was nearly three times its 1948 level, growing 1.52% a year. Total input use grew only 0.12% a year, and total factor productivity grew 1.40% a year over 1948-2023 (USDA ERS, agricultural productivity).

This is the advantage that lets a country grow more food without clearing proportionally more land. It is also a long-run average. Productivity measures can move sharply between short periods, and ERS reports that annual growth in total factor productivity was 0.51% in 2007-2019 and 3.19% in 2019-2023.

In plain terms, farmers now get far more food from about the same amount of land, labor and materials. ERS also reports that every state showed positive productivity growth from 1960 to 2015, from 0.23% a year in New Mexico to 1.95% in Ohio.

6. Soil protection through cover crops

Cover crops are planted between cash crops to keep living roots in the soil. US cropland planted to cover crops grew 17% between the 2017 and 2022 censuses, from 15,390,674 to 17,985,831 acres, which is 4.7% of cropland (USDA ERS, 2022 Census of Agriculture). ERS lists benefits such as better soil health and water quality, weed suppression and less erosion.

The 4.7% share is a reminder that this advantage is still mostly ahead of us. A practice used on fewer than one cropland acre in twenty has plenty of room to grow, and it also depends on local costs, weather and seed supply.

Use is uneven. It is more common in the south and east, where seasons are longer, and harder in colder or drier regions. Maryland has the highest rate, helped by state programs for Chesapeake Bay water quality. Texas added the most acres, up more than 50% from 1,014,145 to 1,550,789. Cover crop use fell in Maryland, Georgia, North Carolina, New Jersey, Tennessee and Kentucky.

Cover crops cost seed, time and sometimes yield risk in the first years. Check local programs and ask your extension office before you change a rotation.

▶ Seven green farming technologies explained in two minutes, covering water, fuel and fertilizer savings. · 2:24

7. Water efficiency on irrigated land

US farms with irrigation numbered 212,714 in 2023, with 53.1 million irrigated acres and 81 million acre-feet of water applied. In 2018 the survey counted 231,474 farms, 55.9 million acres and 83.4 million acre-feet. Water used fell 2.8%, and the average of 1.5 acre-feet per acre was the same in both surveys (USDA NASS, 2023 Irrigation and Water Management Survey).

In the Western states, pressurized systems (sprinkler and drip) covered 75% of irrigated acres in 2023, up from 69% in 2013. ERS notes they generally lose less water to evaporation, deep percolation and runoff than gravity systems. But the rise came mainly because gravity acres fell from 13.5 to 9.8 million, while pressurized acres also slipped from 30 to 29 million (USDA ERS, Western irrigation).

Use the calculator to turn your own acres into acre-feet, gallons and pumping cost. One acre-foot is 325,851 gallons (US Geological Survey glossary).

Try the numbers for your own farm below.

8. Technology that smaller farms can adopt

Farm technology reaches big farms first. In ERS analysis of four national farm surveys, auto-steer guidance was used by 82% of the largest winter wheat farms (2017), 73% of corn (2016), 68% of soybean (2018) and 67% of cotton farms (2019). Among the smallest farms the rates were 7%, 10% and 11% for wheat, corn and soybean, but 50% for cotton (USDA ERS, precision agriculture guidance systems). ERS says adoption also depends on terrain, soils, crop and the farmer’s attitude to risk.

Chart

Guidance system use: smallest and largest farms

Share of farms using auto-steer guidance, largest and smallest fifth of farms by size; winter wheat 2017, corn 2016, soybean 2018, cotton 2019

Small farms can still use tools that need no machine. Satellite images show vegetation change field by field, and the Farmonaut Satellite + AI Farm Monitoring System is one service that offers them on phone and web. Satellites show where a crop looks different, not why, so walk the field to find the cause.

▶ What farm technology does to rural towns: money, jobs and internet access. · 3:50

9. Household income, with a caveat

Median total income for US farm households was $102,748 in 2024, compared with $83,730 for all US households, 22.7% higher. Farm households have beaten the national median in every year since 1998 (USDA ERS, farm household well-being).

The caveat is how that income is earned. About 86% of US farms are small family farms, with gross cash farm income under $350,000. Their households typically rely on off-farm sources for most of their income. The median household on a large-scale family farm earned $410,756 in 2024, and most of that came from farming (USDA ERS, farming and farm income). ERS adds that farm income swings more from year to year than other households’ income. Households that run farms as their main job, or commercial farms, had a median income of $76,622 in 2024, below the $108,196 of self-employed households.

Wealth is a different story from income. In 2024 the median US farm household had $1.6 million in wealth, and households on commercial farms (gross cash farm income of at least $350,000) had $3.9 million at the median, according to USDA ERS. ERS says this reflects the farmland and equipment needed to run a farm. Land values move with local markets, so check current local prices with your state agricultural statistics office.

For anyone planning to farm, treat this as a reason to plan finances early and to get advice from a lender or accountant.

10. Family ownership and rural communities

About 97% of US farms are family farms, where an operator and relatives own most of the business. This keeps ownership and decisions close to the land and the local economy. A mixed farm with crops and animals can also spread weather and price risk across more than one income source.

Outside the United States the pattern differs, so use the numbers in the chart rather than assuming one model. Agriculture’s share of jobs ranges from about 1% in Canada to more than a quarter of the world’s workers.

▶ Six benefits of mixing crops and animals on one farm, including spreading risk. · 2:55

How to use these advantages on your own farm

National numbers tell you why farming matters. They do not tell you what to do on a given field. These steps turn each advantage into a decision you can check with your own records.

1. Start with water. Record acres irrigated, depth applied and pumping cost for one season, then enter them in the calculator above. A year of records is the base for any later change to the irrigation system.
2. Look up cover crop support. State agencies and conservation districts run programs, and the rules differ by state and province. Ask your extension office what pays for seed or planting before you budget it.
3. Map your fields. Field boundaries and satellite images over several seasons show which parts of a farm vary most. That tells you where guidance, variable rates or a drainage fix would help first.
4. Check your income mix. If most household income comes from off-farm work, as ERS finds for small family farms, the farm business needs a smaller but steadier plan than a farm that supports the whole household.
5. Watch your export exposure. If you sell soybeans, tree nuts or beef, the 2025 swings in China and EU demand show how fast a market can change. Ask your buyer where the product goes and whether contracts have price or tariff clauses.

This is general information, not financial, legal or agronomic advice. Check program rules, labels and local regulations, and ask a qualified adviser before you act.

Limits and disadvantages to keep in mind

• Farm income is volatile, and many small farms depend on off-farm pay (USDA ERS, 2024).
• US food imports have grown faster than exports and now exceed them (USDA ERS, 2025).
• Cover crops are still on only 4.7% of US cropland, so soil benefits are not yet widespread (USDA ERS, 2022).
• Irrigation uses large volumes: 81 million acre-feet in 2023 (USDA NASS).
• Hunger remains high in parts of the world, above 20% of people in Africa in 2024 (FAO, 2025).

For a wider look at pros and cons, see our guide to the advantages and disadvantages of intensive farming and the seven basic steps of farming in the related pages below.

FAQ

What are the advantages of agriculture?

Agriculture supplies food, creates jobs, earns export income, raises output from the same inputs, protects soil when cover crops are used, and supports family-owned businesses and rural towns. In the US, agriculture, food and related industries made up 5.5% of GDP in 2023 (USDA ERS).

What are 5 advantages of agriculture?

Five with strong data: food supply (8.2% of people hungry worldwide in 2024, FAO), jobs (1.18 million US farm wage and salary jobs in 2024), economic footprint (5.5% of US GDP in 2023), exports ($171 billion in 2025) and productivity (output nearly three times 1948 levels, ERS).

What are 3 advantages of farming?

For a farmer: income from selling crops or livestock, ownership of a family business, and the chance to raise output with better practices. Remember that most small farm households also earn money off the farm (USDA ERS, 2024).

How much of the economy is agriculture?

It depends on the definition. Farms alone are about 0.8% of US GDP, and with food and related industries 5.5% (2023). In Canada, the full agri-food system is about 7% (2025). Worldwide, agriculture, forestry and fishing is about 4% of GDP (World Bank, 2025).

Is farming a good way to earn a living?

Median farm household income was above the US median in 2024, but small farms rely on off-farm work, income varies a lot from year to year, and households that run farms as their main job earned less than self-employed households ($76,622 against $108,196). Get advice from a lender, accountant or extension adviser before you commit money.

Does agriculture have disadvantages?

Yes: volatile income, water use, a US farm trade deficit and slow uptake of soil practices. These are covered in the limits section above, each with a dated source.

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