Agricultural Productivity in the U.S.

This data product provides estimates of productivity growth in the U.S. farm sector for 1948-2019 (table 1), and estimates of output, inputs, and the growth and relative levels of productivity across U.S. States for 1960-2004 (tables 3-23). Tables also include price and quantity indices for agricultural outputs and inputs (table 1a), and summarize sources of growth (table 2).

The next update to this data product—planned for early 2024—is expected to contain estimates for the U.S. aggregate accounts through 2021.

The USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS), together with the Farm Foundation and the Global Agricultural Productivity Initiative of Virginia Tech, hosted a workshop aimed at supporting a network of researchers who study productivity-related topics. Goals of the network include supporting ERS research on identifying the causes and effects of agricultural productivity growth as well as the quality of ERS productivity data products. See details about the Agricultural Productivity Growth: Measurement, Drivers, and Climatic Effects Workshop on the Farm Foundation website.

Note that the national data series has been revised (see Update and Revision History for details), and updates of the State-level statistics are suspended in light of reduced ERS resources and the discontinuance of key source data series. The quality of the national statistics is preserved.