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Pennsylvania ranks second in nation for direct food sales from farms
Cris Collingwood//May 11, 2022//
Listen to this articlePennsylvania farms produced $600 million in revenue in 2020, making the state second in the nation for direct food sales, according to the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
More than 6,200 Pennsylvania farms produced and sold food locally through direct marketing practices, said King Whetstone, director of the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Northeastern Regional Field Office. The data covers both fresh and value-added foods, such as meat and cheese.
The more than 40,000 U.S. farms that sold food directly to institutions and intermediates brought in the most revenue at $4.1 billion; this was followed by more than 113,000 operations with direct-to-consumer sales, such as on-farm stores and farmers markets, at $2.9 billion, he said. Sales directly to retailers accounted for $1.9 billion from more than 24,000 operations nationwide.
The top five states by value of total direct food sales were:
- California, $1.43 billion
- Pennsylvania, $600 million
- New York, $584 million
- Michigan, $555 million
- Maine, $342 million
Most farms that sold directly to consumers sold through outlets such as on-farm stores. Pennsylvania had more than 5,000 operations engaged in direct-to-consumer sales earning $152 million, according to the USDA.
The survey results also showed that 78% of U.S. farms sold their direct-to-market produce exclusively within 100 miles of the farm, while an additional 19% sold partially within and beyond 100 miles.
Approximately 314,000 people were involved in making decisions for the farms that sold directly to consumers in 2020, according to the survey. Of these, 57% were men and 43% were women – a higher proportion of women than among all farms, according to data from the 2017 Census of Agriculture.
