Tennessee Farm Facts

Tennessee is blessed with an abundance of resources to grow and sustain various commodities throughout the state. Learn more about Tennessee agriculture below!

Tennessee Agriculture

  • Total farms: 69,500
  • Average farm size: 154 acres
  • 39.6% of the land in Tennessee is farmland.
  • Economic impact: $89 BILLION
  • 366,000 people in Tennessee employed by agriculture and forestry.
  • Farmers markets: 129
  • Top commodities: soybeans, corn, wheat, cotton, hay, tobacco, cattle & calves, broiler chickens, fresh-market tomatoes and dairy products
  • Production value: $5,200,000,000
    • 59% crops & 41% livestock
  • Beef cattle are produced in every county in Tennessee.
  • Tennessee is one of the top beef-producing states in the nation.
  • In 2022, cattle and calves brought $687 million in cash receipts.
  • In 2021, Tennessee had an inventory of 1.68 million head.
  • Cattle and Calves rank #3 in the state for total cash receipts.
  • Tennessee ranks 17th in corn acreage in the U.S. and 19th in total corn for grain production.
  • The largest corn-producing counties in the state are in the western and central regions.
  • In 2022, corn brought in $678.3 million in cash receipts with more than 800,000 harvested acres.
  • In 2022, the crop brought $344.1 million in cash receipts.
  • Tennessee ranks ninth in cotton production on the national level.
  • The majority of the crop is grown in the Western and Delta part of the state.
  • Tennessee had 330,000 acres of cotton that yielded 710,000 bales in 2022.
  • Tennessee has six commercial milk processing plants in Nashville, Murfreesboro, Memphis, Powell and Athens.
  • The state is home to approximately 170 registered dairies.
  • In 2021, dairy products brought $97.1 million in cash receipts.
  • Tennessee produced 508 million pounds of milk in 2021.
  • Tennessee’s forests cover 14 million acres, or 52% of the state.
  • Tennessee had $288 million timber sales in 2020.
  • Private Landowners own 84% of Tennessee forests.
  • Farmers across Tennessee harvested 1.7 million acres of hay in 2021.
  • In 2020, hay brought $192.9 million in cash receipts.
  • Tennessee ranks No. 11 in the U.S. for hay production.
  • Tennessee produced 4 million tons of hay in 2021.
  • In 2021, Tennessee had a total inventory of 305,000 hogs.
  • In 2021, hogs brought $121.5 million in cash receipts.
  • Tennessee’s poultry industry has an overall economic impact of $6.55 billion.
  • Tennessee produced more than 195 million head of broiler chickens in 2021.
  • Poultry provides more than 27,000 direct and indirect jobs and accounts for over $438 million paid annually in state and federal taxes.
  • Broilers brought in $972.6 million in cash receipts.
  • In 2020, 1.13 billion pounds of meat was produced.
  • Tennessee currently ranks 16th in the U.S. for number of broilers on farms.
  • Broilers are on more than 500 family farms and Tennessee has close to 1,650 commercial broiler and breeder houses.
  • Soybeans are planted on more acres than any other row crop in Tennessee and is currently the #1 commodity in the state in cash receipts.
  • In 2022, Tennessee farmers harvested 1.62 million acres of soybeans, which resulted in a total production of 77.76 million bushels of the crop.
  • Cash receipts for soybeans in 2022 totaled $1,098.8 million.
  • Soybeans are Tennessee’s #1 ag export.
  • Tennessee farmers harvested 12,900 acres of tobacco in 2021 that produced nearly 32 million pounds of the crop.
  • Tennessee ranks No. 4 in the nation for tobacco production
  • In 2021, tobacco brought in $78.9 million in cash receipts.
  • Tennessee’s climate is conducive for the production of high-quality, low-protein, soft red winter wheat.
  • In 2021, wheat brought in $141.1 million in cash receipts.
  • Farmers harvested 330,000 acres which resulted in the production of more than 23.4 million bushels of winter wheat.
  • Nursery crops ranked 4th in the state for total cash receipts in 2019, which average around $285 million.
  • McMinnville (Warren County) is considered the “Nursery Capital of the World.”
  • Tennessee ranks in the top five states in the nation in production of tomatoes and snap beans.
  • In 2018, Tennessee vegetable production brought in almost $67 million.