Wisconsin Agricultural Statistics

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​Wisconsin is America’s Dairyland but there is more produced and processed in our state than just milk and cheese. Wisconsin ranks first in the nation for: snap beans for processing, cheese, cranberries, ginseng, mink pelts, dry whey for humans, milk goats and corn for silage.

Wisconsin agriculture is a big economic driver contributing $104.8 billion annually to our state’s economy. 

  • Food processing activity contributes $82.7 billion to industrial sales.
  • The state is home to 64,100 farms on 14.2 million acres. The average farm size in Wisconsin is 222 acres.

Wisconsin agriculture provides jobs.

  • Annually, 435,700 jobs or 11.8% of the stat​e’s employment.
  • On-farm production contributes 154,000 jobs.
  • Processing contributes 282,000 jobs.

Wisconsin is one of the top states in the production of the major processing vegetables.

  • In 2022, Wisconsin grew 6.26 million cwt of snap beans, 1.60 million cwt of carrots, and 1.09 million cwt of green peas.
  • The state ranks third in the nation in potato production, harvesting potatoes on 66,500 acres in 2022.

The state is known for its fruit production, including its state fruit – the cranberry.

  • Wisconsin cranberry production for 2022 totaled 4.84 million barrels. Growers harvested 20,3​00 acres. Wisconsin produces 60 percent of th​e nation's crop making us the top cranberry producing state in the country.
  • The state also produces a large tart cherry crop, producing 12.9 million pounds in 2022​. 

Wisconsin is home to nearly 6,0​00 dairy farms, more than any other state, and 1.28 million cows.​

  • The dairy industry itself contributes $45.6 billion to Wisconsin’s economy each year.
  • The feed mills, dairy equipment manufacturers and technicians, veterinarians, construction companies, genetics companies, milk haulers, dairy plants,  dairy software companies - create a wave of economic impact that rolls across the entire state. 

Wisconsin is #1 in cheese.

  • Our state’s nearly 1,200 licensed cheesemakers produce over 600 types, styles and varieties of cheese – nearly double the number of any other state.
  • Wisconsin cheesemakers make 25% ​of the nation’s cheese, producing 3.52 billion pounds in 2022.
  • In 2022, the state ​led the nation with the production of 928​ million pounds of specialty cheeses. ​

Wisconsin exported $4.22 billion of agricultural and food products to 142 countries in 2022. 

  • Wisconsin currently ranks 12th among U.S. states in food, forestry, and agricultural exports.
  • Wisconsin ranks first in the export of specialty cheeses, ginseng roots, prepared/preserved cranberries, mink, bovine semen, prepared/preserved​ sweet corn, and sausages.​
  • ​​The state's top agricultural export markets include Canada, China, Mexico, Korea, and Japan.
  • Sauces and miscellaneous food preparations, dairy, and beverages including ​ethanol were Wisconsin's most valuable agricultural export categories ​in 2022.
(Updated May 8​, 2023​)​​