Thirty-six food and agriculture groups released the ninth annual Feeding the Economy report, a farm-to-fork study of the entire agricultural supply chain. The report analyzes the direct and indirect economic contributions of agriculture to US jobs, wages, economic output and taxes.

The 2025 report confirms the agriculture industry generates more than $9.5 trillion in economic value, which amounts to 18.7% of the overall national economy. While these findings highlight the strong impact of the agriculture industry, this is a modest decrease compared to 2024, when agriculture contributed more than $9.6 trillion to the economy, about 20% of total economic output.

The agriculture industry has shown significant growth since the pandemic, increasing its economic output by close to 25% and demonstrating the industry's resilience and innovation amid global supply chain challenges. Direct employment in food and agriculture has grown by more than 1 million jobs since 2020, contributing to overall American job growth and high US employment rates.

The United States exports nearly $183 billion in food and agriculture products, critical to the strength and growth of the industry.

Despite these considerable gains and contributions to the US economy, certain emerging trends represent an industry under pressure. Direct and indirect industry wages have grown year over year but have failed to keep pace with inflation, reflecting nationwide economic stressors and the high cost of labor for employers. Additionally, the number of agricultural manufacturing jobs has fallen year over year and is down nearly 30,000 jobs since 2020.

Source: Food and Agriculture Industry Organizations