Florida agriculture includes 44,400 farm operations working 9.7 million acres, according to the USDA/NASS 2024 State Agriculture Overview for Florida. The same overview records major cattle, dairy, sugarcane, citrus, vegetable, fruit, grain, cotton, peanut, and hay production. The USDA/NASS 2022 Florida Census release adds information about farm income, sales concentration, technology, direct marketing, and the people operating farms.
Contents
- Florida farms and land
- Livestock, poultry, and dairy
- Sugarcane, citrus, and fruit
- Vegetable and specialty crops
- Field crops and forage
- Farm income, sales, and technology
- Florida producers
Florida farms and land
Florida farm operations covered 9,700,000 acres in the USDA/NASS 2024 State Agriculture Overview for Florida. With 44,400 operations, the reported average area operated per farm was 218 acres. These figures describe the scale and average footprint of operations, while individual farms can be much smaller or larger.
The 2022 Florida Census release reported $10.2 billion in agricultural products produced by Florida farms. Production expenses totaled $8.5 billion, and net cash farm income was $2.4 billion. Average net farm income rose to $52,669 in 2022. These financial figures are for 2022, so they should not be read as the same measurement period as the 2024 overview.
Farm sales were distributed unevenly. In 2022, 1,615 Florida farms had sales of $1 million or more, representing 3.6% of farms and controlling 37.8% of farmland. At the other end, farms with sales under $50,000 accounted for 81.6% of farms, 25.0% of farmland, and 2.3% of sales.
| Florida farm measure | Reported figure | Measurement period |
|---|---|---|
| Farm operations | 44,400 | 2024 overview |
| Area operated | 9,700,000 acres | 2024 overview |
| Average area per farm | 218 acres | 2024 overview |
| Agricultural products | $10.2 billion | 2022 Census |
| Production expenses | $8.5 billion | 2022 Census |
| Net cash farm income | $2.4 billion | 2022 Census |
Livestock, poultry, and dairy
Florida had 1,560,000 cattle including calves as of January 1, 2025, according to the USDA/NASS 2024 State Agriculture Overview for Florida. The inventory included 865,000 beef cows and 95,000 milk cows. Florida also had 44,000 meat and other goats and 10,800 milk goats on that date.
Dairy production in the overview totaled 2,029,000,000 pounds of milk, with a production value of $533,627,000. Milk production per head was 20,495 pounds. The pounds-per-head figure provides a productivity measure alongside the statewide production total and value.
Florida broiler production was 60,600,000 head. This is a production count rather than a live inventory date, so it should be considered separately from the cattle and goat counts reported as of January 1, 2025.
The livestock figures show several distinct parts of Florida agriculture: beef cattle, dairy cattle, goats, poultry, and crops grown for food, feed, and processing. Because the measures use different units and dates, they are best compared within their own categories rather than combined into a single total.
Sugarcane, citrus, and fruit
Sugarcane for sugar and seed used 396,700 planted acres and yielded 45.4 tons per acre. Production was 18,020,000 tons, with a production value of $942,446,000. For sugarcane for sugar alone, the overview reported 381,000 planted acres, a yield of 45.1 tons per acre, production of 17,183,000 tons, and a production value of $898,671,000.
Florida oranges were grown on 231,300 acres and yielded 78 boxes per acre. Utilized production totaled 18,060,000 boxes, with a production value of $262,948,000. Orange processing production totaled 732,000 tons and had a value of $227,943,000. Fresh-market oranges totaled 81,000 tons.
The orange measures use different units: acres describe land, boxes describe utilized production, and tons describe processing or fresh-market output. They should not be added together. Florida grapefruit had a reported production value of $44,725,000.
Other fruit figures in the USDA/NASS overview included 21,000 tons of utilized tangerines and 13,200 tons of avocados from 4,000 planted acres. Blueberries had 6,400 planted acres and 29,500,000 pounds of production value as reported in the overview.
Strawberries used 16,200 planted acres, yielded 205 hundredweight per acre, and produced 3,320,000 hundredweight. Their production value was $532,669,000. These figures make strawberries one of the prominent reported fruit and berry categories by production value in the overview, alongside citrus, sugarcane, blueberries, and avocados.
Vegetable and specialty crops
Florida tomatoes grown in the open used 24,000 planted acres, of which 23,200 acres were harvested. Yield was 300 hundredweight per acre, production was 6,960,000 hundredweight, and production value was $361,057,000. The distinction between planted and harvested acreage matters because the two acreage measures are not interchangeable.
Bell peppers used 12,000 planted acres and yielded 270 hundredweight per acre. Production totaled 3,240,000 hundredweight, with a production value of $202,576,000. Watermelons used 24,000 planted acres and produced 9,124,500 hundredweight, valued at $198,317,000.
Sweet corn used 46,000 planted acres and yielded 135 hundredweight per acre. Production was 6,102,000 hundredweight. Snap beans used 34,000 planted acres and produced 1,679,600 hundredweight. The overview also reported 2,573,000 hundredweight of cabbage, 2,380,000 hundredweight of cucumbers, and 793,500 hundredweight of squash.
| Crop | Acreage reported | Yield or production | Value, where reported |
|---|---|---|---|
| Strawberries | 16,200 planted acres | 3,320,000 cwt.; 205 cwt./acre | $532,669,000 |
| Open tomatoes | 24,000 planted; 23,200 harvested acres | 6,960,000 cwt.; 300 cwt./acre | $361,057,000 |
| Bell peppers | 12,000 planted acres | 3,240,000 cwt.; 270 cwt./acre | $202,576,000 |
| Watermelons | 24,000 planted acres | 9,124,500 cwt. | $198,317,000 |
| Sweet corn | 46,000 planted acres | 6,102,000 cwt.; 135 cwt./acre | Not reported here |
Field crops and forage
Peanuts used 165,000 planted acres and produced 549,500,000 pounds, with a production value of $147,816,000. Upland cotton used 85,000 planted acres and produced 119,000 480-pound bales. Grain corn production was 6,627,000 bushels, while silage corn production was 544,000 tons.
Hay used 300,000 planted acres and produced 750,000 tons. These hay and corn figures are reported in different production units because they represent different crop uses and measurement conventions. The overview also recorded 396,700 planted acres for sugarcane for sugar and seed, making sugarcane a major acreage crop alongside hay, peanuts, cotton, and vegetables.
Florida’s crop statistics therefore cover both fresh-market and processing-oriented agriculture. Tomatoes, peppers, watermelons, strawberries, and sweet corn are reported with hundredweight measures in the overview, while peanuts use pounds, grain corn uses bushels, cotton uses standard bales, and hay and silage corn use tons.
Farm income, sales, and technology
The 2022 Florida Census release reported that 29.7% of Florida farms had positive net cash farm income. That percentage is a farm-level measure and is distinct from the statewide $2.4 billion net cash farm income figure. The release also reported that 79.8% of Florida farms had internet access.
Renewable energy was present on 2,431 Florida farms in 2022. Solar panels represented 93.5% of Florida farms with renewable energy systems. This percentage applies to the farms in the renewable-energy group, not to all Florida farms.
Direct sales were another measured activity. A total of 2,941 Florida farms sold directly to consumers, and direct-to-consumer sales totaled $38.5 million in 2022. The count of farms and the sales total describe participation and reported revenue, respectively; neither figure represents all agricultural sales in the state.
The sales-size distribution adds context to the financial picture. High-sales farms—those with sales of $1 million or more—were 3.6% of farms but controlled 37.8% of farmland. Farms with sales under $50,000 made up 81.6% of farms while accounting for 2.3% of sales. These shares describe different segments of the same 2022 farm economy.
Florida producers
The average age of Florida producers was 59.5 in 2022, according to the USDA/NASS 2022 Florida Census release. Florida had 26,834 farmers with 10 or fewer years of experience, and beginning farmers averaged 50.6 years old.
Florida had 5,211 producers under age 35, representing 6.6% of Florida producers. The release also counted 4,051 farms with young producers. The producer count and farm count are different measures: one person can be associated with a farm, while a farm can have multiple producers.
Female producers numbered 32,472 and represented 41.0% of Florida producers in 2022. In addition, 65.1% of Florida farms had at least one female decision maker. The producer percentage and farm decision-maker percentage describe different units, so they should not be treated as equivalent measures of participation.
Together, these figures show a Florida agricultural sector with a large established producer population, a measurable group of newer farmers, and broad female participation in farm decision-making. They also place crop, livestock, and financial statistics in a human context: the state’s reported production depends on operations of widely varying sales levels, acreage, experience, and technology access.