Alabama Agriculture It’s Everywhere !!

Alabama agriculture is very important There are over 45,000 farms in the state covering about 9,000,000 acres. This averages out to 200 acres for each farm. Alabama farmers grow a variety of crops and livestock—At least 50 different.

Poultry & Eggs Alabama is the 3rd largest producer of broilers (chicken you eat) just behind Arkansas & Georgia Alabama is the 13th largest producer of eggs in the nation.

There are twelve major companies operating broiler farms in Alabama. These twelve companies provide jobs for almost 55,000 people, including 4,000 farmers. Cullman County produces the most poultry and eggs in Alabama and is the second highest producing county in the world. Broilers are raised in specially designed houses that have room for up to 21,000 birds. The temperature, lighting and amount of food are carefully controlled.

Cattle Alabama ranks in the top 25 nationally in cattle inventory and 14th in beef cow inventory. The cattle industry is one of Alabama's largest agricultural products in terms of cash income. Most cow-calf operations consist of small herds having 10 to 20 brood cows. Alabama averages around 1.5 million head of cattle.

Calves are usually born in the fall, weaned in the summer of early fall or the next year and sold as feeder calves at a weight of around pounds. Feeder calves are grown for consumer consumption. Cullman County ranks 1 st in Alabama. Leading states in cattle inventory were Texas, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Hogs & pigs Alabama is a small hog producer. Alabama ranked 26th in the United States during 2001 for hog and pig production. Our number of hogs and pigs produced was 165,000. DeKalb County ranks 1 st in Alabama.

Catfish Alabama is one of the top four states to produce aquaculture. Aquaculture farming is the production of fish, shrimp, and frogs. Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, produce 95% of the catfish grown in the United States. Alabama grows a lot of catfish. Catfish is raised in man-made ponds. Hale County ranks 1 st in catfish production.

Honey Bees In Alabama several varieties of honey - including clover, sourwood and wildflower can be bought. Honey production is one reason that there are more than 1,200 registered beekeepers in the state. Another area of bee production, is that of selling queen bees for breeding purposes.

Alabama queen bees are shipped into every state and to several foreign countries. Queen bees that have been certified disease free are packaged and shipped to beekeepers who want to increase their hive production. In a hive or bee colony, each bee has an important part. The queen bee lays eggs and the drones mate with the queen. The worker bees gather nectar and pollen, make nectar into honey, feed the queen, drones and larvae, make wax honeycomb and do many other jobs.

Corn Corn is an important commodity in farming and most corn grown in the U.S. is used to feed livestock. Jackson County ranks 1 st in Alabama. Poultry, beef, pork and dairy producers use more than 60-percent of all the corn grown in the U.S.

Cotton Alabama ranked 11th in the United States in cotton production. Limestone County topped all other Alabama counties in cotton production. The state average was 28 pounds per acre. Cotton is versatile and has many uses. It can be used as a fiber, feed and food.

In 1892 the boll weevil arrived from Mexico and spread across the cotton-growing regions of the United States. The boll weevil bores into the cotton boll and lays its eggs. The eggs hatch and the larvae eat the cotton fiber. It takes the larvae about 3 weeks to become adult weevils and start laying their own eggs. That means that the weevils can hatch anywhere from generations during a single cotton growing season. Because of the destruction done to the cotton crops, Alabama farmers had no other choice but to diversify.

In other words, start growing other crops. Soybeans, peanuts, corn, wheat, and other crops soon took over many of the fields that used to grow cotton. In Enterprise Alabama, Bon Fleming, a local businessman, came up with the idea to honor the boll weevil for its part in changing the way Alabama farmers farmed. The monument and surrounding pool cost $3,000, which came from individual contributions and Fleming's own pocket. The monument was dedicated in a ceremony on Dec. 11, 1919 witnessed by a crowd of 5,000 people.

Boll Weevil Monument

When the cotton is harvested it is sent to a "Cotton Gin." Cotton gins separate the fluffy, white fiber from the seed (one-third of it is lint, the fluffy white part, and two-thirds seed.) The fiber is used to make cotton cloth. The seeds are processed into oil, meal and hulls. They are used in soap, makeup and food products such as cooking oil and margarine. The meal and hulls are used as livestock feed. The leftover fiber can be used to make everything from gunpowder to toothbrush handles.

Soybeans Jackson County ranks 1 st in Alabama. Alabama produces soybeans. In fact there are 160,000 acres in the state growing soybeans. This yields 2.9 million bushels of soybeans a year. The largest acreage is in the Tennessee Valley of North Alabama and the Gulf Coast area. Two soybean processing plants are located in North Alabama.

Soybeans are processed into meal and oil. Most of the meal goes into poultry and livestock feed. Soybean oil accounts for about three-fourths of the fats and oils used in U.S. edible oil products. Most cooking oils, shortenings, and margarines are made from soybean oil. Here is a short list of what soybeans are used for Consumer Products Adhesives, All-Purpose Lubricants, Alternative Fuels, Animal Care, Auto Care, Bar Chain Oils, Building Composites, Candles, Cleaning Products, Crayons, Diesel Additives

Peanuts Houston County ranks 1 st in Alabama. Runner peanuts are grown primarily in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. These three states accounted for 60% of the U.S. crop in 2001 Peanuts are legumes, not nuts. The peanut plant is unusual because it flowers above ground but the peanut grows below ground. Planted in the early spring, the peanut grows best in calcium rich sandy soil. For a good crop, 120 to 140 frost free days are required.

Farmers harvest the peanuts in the fall. The peanuts are pulled from the ground by special machinery and turned over to dry in the fields for several days. The combine machines then separate the peanuts from the vines and blow the tender moist peanuts into special hoppers. They are dumped into a drying wagon and cured by forcing warm air through the wagons. Afterwards, the peanuts are taken to buying stations where they are inspected and graded for sale.

Nearly half of the US peanut crop was used to make peanut butter in Runner peanuts are preferred for peanut butter because they are very uniform in size, which is important to achieve evenly roasted peanuts for the best tasting peanut butter. Would you believe Dr. George Washington Carver researched and developed more than 300 uses for peanuts in the early 1900s?

There are 48,000 people in Alabama who call themselves farmers. And for generations those few families have dedicated their lives to creating a $4.7 billion business—Alabama's largest.

But today, agriculture reaches far beyond the farm gate. Alabama's agribusiness industries account for 476,000 jobs with annual earnings of more than $9 billion. That's 21 percent of the state's workforce. In fact, 85 percent of all jobs created by agriculture are not on the farm at all.

Together, these industries account for more than $43 billion or 22 percent of the state's direct output—more than any other industry.

More than 90 percent of the food items consumed in the United States are produced whole or in part by American farmers. It takes just 40 days for the average American to earn enough money to buy their food for an entire year. In contrast, it takes them 131 days to earn enough to pay their federal, state and local taxes for one year.

Disposable Income on Food Americans—10.7% England—11.2% Australia—14.9% Mexico—24.5% India—51.3% Japan—17.6%

Agriculture is IMPORTANT to Alabama!!