California’s farm sales are $50 billion a year, almost twice the $27 billion farm sales of number two Iowa. Half of the state’s farm sales are from the eight-county San Joaquin Valley, where Fresno, Kern, and Tulare counties collectively account for 45 percent of the state’s farm sales.
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California’s farm sales are $50 billion a year, almost twice the $27 billion farm sales of number two Iowa. Half of the state’s farm sales are from the eight-county San Joaquin Valley, where Fresno, Kern, and Tulare counties collectively account for 45 percent of the state’s farm sales.
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California’s farm sales are $50 billion a year, almost twice the $27 billion farm sales of number two Iowa. Half of the state’s farm sales are from the eight-county San Joaquin Valley, where Fresno, Kern, and Tulare counties collectively account for 45 percent of the state’s farm sales.
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Flowers and indoor potted plants are grown locally or imported from other countries. Most cut flowers and indoor potted plants are sold in North America and Western Europe, and many are imported. The major sources of flowers that cross national borders include Colombia and Ecuador for North America and Kenya and Ethiopia for Western Europe. The Netherlands is the global hub for trade in flowers and ornamental plants.
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The ILO defines child labor as work that “deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is harmful to physical and mental development.” The ILO notes that whether the work of children is “child labor” depends on the child’s age, the type and hours of work performed, the conditions under which the work is performed. Hazardous child labor is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children.
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The Mexico economy rebounded from recession in 2020, expanding by five percent in 2021; growth is projected to slow to two percent in 2022. The government did not spend heavily to aid businesses and families adversely affected by the pandemic, which kept public debt below 60 percent of GDP. Inflation topped six percent and Mexico’s GDP per capita of $8,400 was an eighth of the US average of $67,200 in 2021.
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Human history is the story of ever-fewer people producing ever-more food. Rising agricultural productivity enabled the development of cities and nonfarm activities that now employ three-fourths of the world’s 3.6 billion workers and generate over 90 percent of the world’s $85 trillion GDP.
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The 27-member EU (without the UK) has 450 million residents who have an average GDP of Euro 30,000 or $33,000. The US has 330 million residents and per capita GDP of $60,000.
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A Global Harvest Automation Report (GHAR) released in February 2022 found that fruit and vegetable farmers expect a third to two thirds of their pre-harvest work to be automated by 2025, but they foresee slower mechanization of harvest tasks. The report emphasized that mechanizing farm tasks now done by hand is hard, as indicated by the fact that three fourths of ag tech startups have not yet generated revenues. Most ag tech startups have fewer than five functioning prototypes and fewer than 10 paying customers.
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US farmers had cash receipts of $362 billion in 2020, including $165 billion from the sale of livestock and $198 billion from the sale of crops, plus government payments of $46 billion and other farm-related income of $34 billion. Farm cash receipts are expected to increase to $438 billion in 2031, including $214 billion from livestock, $224 billion from crops, $7 billion in government payments, and $36 billion in farm-related income.
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