Agricultural Productivity in the United States
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service
It is widely agreed that increased productivity is the main contributor to economic growth in U.S. agriculture. This data set provides estimates of productivity growth in the U.S. farm sector over the 1948-2004 period, and estimates of the growth and relative levels of productivity across the States for the period 1960-2004. Note that this data series has been revised with this release (see the complete documentation for details, or go to the data tables).
The level of farm output in 2004 was 167 percent above its level in 1948 for an average annual rate of growth of 1.74 percent. Input use actually declined in aggregate (labor has been departing the sector and land use has declined slightly, while capital influx has been modest), so the positive growth in farm sector output is wholly due to productivity growth. This contrasts with a 3.7-percent annual output increase in the private nonfarm sector, with productivity growth accounting for a little more than a third of the economic growth. But what exactly is productivity?
Single-factor measures of productivity, such as corn production per acre (yield or land productivity) or per hour of labor (labor productivity), have been used for many years because the underlying data are often easily available. While useful, such measures can also mislead. For example, yields could increase simply because farmers are adding more of other inputs, such as chemicals, labor, or machinery, to their land base. USDA produces measures of total factor productivity, taking account of the use of all inputs to the production process.
Tables in xls.
