SOCIOECONOMIC TRENDS IN AGRICULTURE 



Dr. Frederick W. Bel 1 



Professor of Economics 



and 



Matthew W. Addison 



Research Associate 



Department of Economics 



Florida State University 



Tallahassee, FL 32306 



AGRICULTURE IN FLORIDA - AN OVERVIEW 



Agriculture in Florida has traditionally been a major source of income 

 and employment. Employment in forest and agricultural production and agricul- 

 tural support services, such as machinery sales and service, has risen from 

 about 91,646 employees in 1963 to 127,589 in 1978. From 1954 to 1978, real 

 agricultural income (1967 dollars) rose 145% ($769.0 million to $1.9 billion). 

 Farm income includes cash receipts, government payments, non-money income, and 

 other farm income. 



The warm climate and abundant rainfall has given Florida farmers an ad- 

 vantage over many other states. The area of Florida is about 37.5 million 

 acres of which 3.1 million acres are rivers, lakes, and other water areas. 

 The land area available for farm, industrial, and urban use is about 34.4 mil- 

 lion acres. In 1978, there were 13.4 million acres of farm land and 15.5 

 million acres of forests. The two together make up about 84% of Florida's 

 land area. 



PRODUCTION TRENDS 



In 1978 Florida ranked 11th (Table 1) in the Nation in terms of cash 

 receipts ($3.2 billion) from agricultural products (Greene et al . 1980). Cash 

 receipts is income from the sale of agricultural products by the farmer to 

 wholesalers and retailers. Excluding livestock production, Florida in 1978 

 ranked fifth nationally with total cash receipts of $2.4 billion (Greene et 

 al . 1980). Prior to 1976, Florida's six major agricultural products were 

 (1) oranges, (2) cattle and calves, (3) dairy products, (4) tomatoes, 

 (5) grapefruit, and (6) forest products. After 1975, sugarcane surpassed 

 grapefruit in value of cash receipts. A more precise classification of agri- 

 cultural products is given in Table 2. Average each farm receipts for major 

 farm products for Florida are available from the Florida Institute of Food and 

 Agricultural Sciences, University of Florida. Farm products are composed of 

 field crops (vegetables, fruits, and nuts), greenhouse and nursery products, 

 and livestock and forest products. Unless otherwise stated, the term agricul- 

 ture or forest products does not include commercial forestry. 



Cash receipts from farm products grown in Florida have increased substan- 

 tially since the mid-1950' s. Receipts in 1979 were about $3.9 billion in 

 current (1978) dollars or $1.8 billion in real dollars (1967 = 100). The 

 retail value of all agricultural and forest products was about $10.9 billion 



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