With fall, comes harvest season in New York State. Maybe you've already gone out apple or pumpkin picking with friends or family and enjoyed our state's beautiful nature and delicious produce. Touring a farm in the autumn is a great way to get a glimpse of one of New York's most lucrative and important industries. The saying is 100% true: "if you ate today, thank a farmer."

The American Farm Bureau Federation says, on average, each American farm feeds around 166 people globally per year. With 33,438 farms counted in the last New York agricultural census in 2017, that means New York famers keep 5.5 million fed worldwide every year. (Think Vermont, Alaska, Delaware, Rohde Island, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming put together.)

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While there are concerns over mass corporate farms, the New York Department of Agriculture found that 98% of New York farms are family owned and employ 55,363 workers within the state. New York is also a burgeoning organic faming state, with a 35% increase in recent years.

These Are The 11 Most Valuable Crops Grown in New York State


The US is expected to export more that $191 billion in agricultural goods in 2022. Data aggregate Stacker combed through US Department of Agriculture studies and overviews to find the most valuable crops grown in each state.

While New York's largest piece of the agricultural pie is dairy (a nearly $3 billion industry), the state has its fair share of successful crops. We even place in the top five producers of several crops on this list.

Gallery Credit: Cameron Coats

LOOK: States With the Most New Small Businesses Per Capita

To find the top 20 states with the most new small businesses per capita, Simply Business analyzed the Census Bureau’s Business Formation Statistics from August 2020 to July 2021.

Gallery Credit: Eliza Siegel

States with the most registered hunters

Stacker analyzed data from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine which states have the most registered hunters. Read on to see how your state ranks on Stacker’s list.

Gallery Credit: Meagan Drillinger

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