Florida’s Agriculture Facts

  • Total Agricultural land – 9,700,000 acres of farm land in Florida. Over 300,000 of those acres are in Polk County.
  • Number of Farms – 47,500 farms in Florida.
  • Average Farm Size – 204 acres
  • Average Age of Florida Farmers – 58.9 years
  • Employment – Over 1.7 million jobs in the agriculture industry. Polk County directly employs over 53,000 of these jobs.
  • Revenues – Over $180 billion in sales revenue across the state. Polk County produces over $8.9 billion in sales revenue.

Additional FL Ag and Food System and Polk Ag Facts

Economic Contributions of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Food Industries in
Polk County, Florida Summary of Findings

  • Agriculture, natural resources and food industries are important contributors to Polk County economy
  • Extensive linkages between Ag producers, processing, distribution, allied inputs and services sectors.
  • Farmland is 45 percent of Polk County’s total land area, but declined over 100,000 acres since 2002, due to development, land conversion.
  • County has high rankings for Agriculture commodities in the state and U.S.
  • Agricultural sales growing slowly (increased 23% since 2002).
  • Citrus industry is dominant in Polk County, but threatened.
  • Strong growth in food manufacturing and distribution.
  • Large export base for farm and food products.
  • Employment: 86,023 jobs, 33% of county workforce.
  • Value added: $5.70 billion, 31% of GDP
  • Labor income: $3.44 billion.
  • Tax revenues: $1.33 billion overall, $280 million in sales taxes, $218 million local property taxes

Click to download 2015 Polk County Economic Impact Study (PDF)