Missouri

Missouri was the 6th leading cattle producer in America in 2022, accounting for roughly 4.4% of the cattle in the U.S. The agricultural landscape in Missouri is booming, with over 95,000 active farms operating on 27.5 million acres. 6.9 million acres are allocated to permanent pasture and rangeland, ample room for the 4.4 million cattle the state accommodates. In 2021, the state also raised 17 million turkeys, 3.4 million hogs, produced 301 million chickens, and over 1 billion pounds of dairy milk.

Mono-crop grains such as soybeans, corn, rice, and wheat make up most of the state's agricultural acreage, accounting for nearly 11 million acres but Missouri also produces cotton on around 630,000 acres.

In 2019, Missouri was named 2nd in the nation in total number of farms and the census reported that more than 96% of Missouri farms were considered family-owned. While the state has seen some promising growth in family-owned agriculture over the last several years, the total number of farms has continued to dwindle over the last decade and a half, dropping from close to 108,000 farms in 2007 to 95,000 in 2022. As agricultural giants continue to put the pressure on smaller farming operations, foreign entities continue to snatch up land that goes to the chopping block. Supporting these local, family-owned farms helps to ensure our money, and our resources, stay with us here at home.