SelectUSA Agribusiness Industry

Industry Overview

The U.S. agribusiness industry is a major competitor in the global market due to its strong workforce, market size, and advanced infrastructure. The industry extends beyond crop production and includes subsectors such as animal production and aquaculture, forestry, fishing, and related activities, and agriculture chemicals.

As one of the most expansive and vital components of the U.S. economy, the agribusiness industry provides essential support to both economic growth and employment. Agriculture, food, and related industries contributed about $1.6 trillion to the U.S. economy in 2024, a 5.4 percent share. America’s farms contributed $215.8 billion of this sum that same year.

In 2024, agriculture, food, and related industries collectively employed about 19.1 million full-time and part-time workers, accounting for roughly 12 percent of total U.S. employment. Of these, American farms directly employed approximately 811,000 workers. According to SelectUSA’s Cluster Mapping dashboard, SelectUSA’s interactive, and data-driven tool designed for investors, companies, and economic development organizations to identify industry concentrations across the United States at the state and county level, the agricultural inputs and services industry cluster employs more than 100,000 individuals. California, Florida, Oregon, Washington, and Wisconsin have a high employment share and a high concentration of employees compared to the nation as a whole in the agricultural inputs and services industry cluster.

While the industry’s economic contribution remains substantial, its landscape has been transformed by technology and innovation. Over half of the land in the United States is for agricultural use, but over the years, technological progress from innovations associated with new knowledge, processes, and systems has reduced the amount of land and water needed per unit of output. In the past two decades, U.S. farms have substantially increased their adoption of precision agriculture, and numerous precision technologies such as guidance autosteering, robotic milking, drones, and yield monitors are now widespread.

As a result of these advancements, the agribusiness industry has become more efficient and globally competitive. In 2024, the United States exported $196 billion worth of agricultural and related goods and is the world’s leading nation in terms of agricultural exports. The top ten U.S. agricultural exports in 2024 were soybeans, corn, beef and beef products, tree nuts, pork and pork products, dairy products, soybean meal, food preparations, wheat, and poultry meat and products. Together, these products comprised 57 percent of U.S. agricultural export value. Overall, the U.S. agribusiness industry remains a cornerstone of the national economy, supporting jobs, innovation, and global food supply.

For information on foreign direct investment related to the agribusiness industry, please refer to SelectUSA’s Agribusiness industry fact sheet.