
Minnesota is ranked fifth in the country for agricultural production, despite only having the 14th largest land mass.
In 2015, the 74,000 farms in Minnesota produced $18.9 billion in agricultural products that fed and supplied people around the world. More than 340,000 Minnesotans have jobs in agriculture.
Minnesota’s largest agricultural commodities are corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, and dairy. The state is also a top producer of sugar beets, oats, turkeys, and wild rice.
There is a growing diversity of farmers across the state, and farmers make a variety of choices about what and how to farm. Due to changing consumer demands, the number of organic farms has increased by 13% since 2011, while still making up only a small percentage of farms in the state.
Who is farming is also changing. For example, since 2002, 222 Hmong farmers have started small operations around the Twin Cities area. You can meet farmers at one of the 188 farmers markets across the state.