Wonderful World of Wisconsin Agriculture

Agriculture has a $20 billion impact on Wisconsin's economy just from the sales of commodities. Multiply that by two or three times, and that's the impact agriculture has on providing food safety, marketing, processing and transportation related jobs.

It is estimated that over 500,000 Wisconsinites, 22% of our work force, rely directly on agriculture for their jobs.

So when you think of factories that manufacture farm equipment, builders that use Wisconsin forestry products, truckers that haul our food, grocery stores that sell our food, and countless other related businesses, you will see that AGRIBUSINESS IS EVERYBODY'S BUSINESS!

Source: Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics 2005 from Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics Service.

The Wonderful World of Wisconsin Agriculture brochure is available in pdf format. View pdf version of the brochure.

Other Links

• Check out WISCONSIN FARM FACTS – check out the importance of agriculture to Wisconsin agriculture.
• Get a Quick Fact sheet of Wisconsin Agriculture.
• Learn more about agriculture in a specific Wisconsin County through the U.S. Census of Agriculture.
• The American Farm Bureau Federation publishes a colorful Farm Facts brochure for you to learn more about American agriculture. Learn more about the connection between agriculture and consumers

Wisconsin’s 17,800 dairy farmers produce over 22 billion pounds of milk, more than 13% of the entire U.S. milk supply.

To move all that milk at one time would require a fleet of 500,000 trucks, each carrying 46,000 pounds (or 96 thousand glasses) of milk. What a milky way traffic jam!

We produce enough mozzarella cheese to make over 1 billion pizzas!

Wisconsin is the second leading butter state producing 342 million pounds, which is 25% of the total U.S. production. That's enough for nearly 13 billion pieces of toast.

Wisconsin Is Famous For Fruit

From Wisconsin's cranberry marshes come three million barrels of cranberries, over 50% of the nation's crop. This places us first in production in the U.S.

The Door County Peninsula grows 12 million pounds of red tart cherries.

Each year Wisconsin harvests 77 million pounds of crisp, juicy apples. Pleasant valleys like Gays Mills grow enough apples to make 46 million apple pies.

Wisconsin farms produce more than 4 million pounds of strawberries, enough to fill over 8 million 8 oz. jars with strawberry jam.

Wisconsin Forestry-From Saw Logs To Santa Claus

Wisconsin's 15.7 million acres of forestland covers 44% of the land area in the state. Wisconsin forests provide us not only lumber,
plywood, toothpicks, postage stamps, apples, and walnuts, but also a fine quality of life.

The forest products industry provides over 98,000 jobs which is 17% of the manufacturing workforce. Another 200,000 workers are employed in jobs involved in the secondary manufacturing of wood products.

Wisconsin Christmas tree growers produce over 3 million trees each year, that are sold across the nation and even in Japan.

Wisconsin Fiber – Wisconsin Farmers Keeping You Warm

Wisconsin is the number one mink state, producing 685,000 pelts, 26% of the U.S. total. Sheep producers sell 475,000 pounds of wool.

Wisconsin Meat Producers – Raising Protein for the U.S.

Wisconsin is first in the nation for special fed veal calves, producing 200,000 each year. We rank 9th among the states in total cattle and calves with 3.3 million head (includes beef and dairy cattle).

Wisconsin's 2,300 hog farmers market 520,000 hogs, ranking us 17th in the U.S.

Chicken farms produce one billion eggs, enough for every person in Wisconsin to eat one every other day for a year. We rank 2nd in duckling production with 45% of the total or almost 6 million annually. Over 33 million broilers and about 6 million turkeys are produced each year.

Wisconsin's 80 fish farmers produce more than 500,000 pounds of trout–most for restaurants.

Wisconsin farmers market 80,000 sheep and lambs.

Wisconsin Vegetables – "Greengrocers For America"

Wisconsin produces 38% of the nation's snap beans for processing, ranking us first in the nation. We rank first in producing 45% of the beets and 45% of the kraut. We are the #3 producer of sweet corn for processing, and also #3 in producing 17% of the peas grown in the U.S. We are second in the production of carrots.

We plant 85,000 acres of potatoes. On each acre of land, a farmer can raise enough potatoes for your family to have one meal of french fries every day for over 40 years.

To make your eyes water, we have 2300 acres of onions. We have 800 acres of horseradish, which is 25% of all the horseradish grown in the U.S.

Last year, Wisconsin grew 420,000 pounds of ginseng. That's 98% of the nation's supply.

Wisconsin Crops & More!

Wisconsin honey producers harvested 6.6 million pounds of honey. We rank 4th in U.S. maple syrup production with 76 thousand gallons. For flavor we grow 12 thousand acres of spearmint and peppermint.

To feed our cattle, we grow more corn silage for forage than any other state. Farmers harvest 390 million bushels of corn as grain, which is more than 19 pounds of corn per day for every Wisconsin resident. Snacks, dog food, candy, cosmetics, bakery, cereal, oil, fuel, and pharmaceuticals are all products derived from corn.

There are nearly 100,000 horses in Wisconsin, with 25% being used for sporting events, breeding, racing, and work. Each year $145 million is spent on horse feed, health care, tack, and services.

Back to Resources for Teachers