How many people does one farmer feed in a year

In the 1930s one American farmer produced enough agricultural product to feed a total of four people; a family farm was literally meant to feed a family.. Fast forward 40 years, and that number rises from four people to 73. Fast forward through 80 years of agricultural and bioscience innovation, and in the 2010s, one farmer produces enough food to feed 155 people.

To better understand what that number means and how it was calculated, lets first look at the current state of farming.

To be considered a farm, at least in the eyes of the U.S. Census, a modern farmer must produce and sell at least $1,000 worth of agricultural products annually. Under this presumption, there are 3.2 million farmers farming 2.2 million farms on roughly 915 million acres of land in the United States.. Together these farms produce crops for the more than 313 million people living in the U.S. — but they arent just feeding America; U.S. farmers ship their commodities worldwide, exporting more than 50 types of agricultural products.

But its not as simple as it may sound. The number of people one farmer feeds is calculated by economists at the American Farm Bureau Federation, and its not actually based on the production of an individual farmer; rather, its a ratio thats based on the production of each farm. 

The math goes like this:

First, the farm bureau begins the calculation with a bit of accounting. They calculate the total sum of American farm agricultural product cash receipts (the amount of money a farm takes in on its sales and services) for a specific year — well call this number X. Then they subtract the trade balance (thats the difference between the value of the total exported goods and the value of the total imported goods, also known as net exports) for that same time period, which well call Y. The result of X minus Y is then divided back into X. The calculation is also designed to take into account the population of the U.S. during that time period, divided by the number of farms in the U.S. in the same year.

The Farm Bureaus statistic, because its based on a ratio, also doesnt distinguish the difference between the size of farms, what crops a farmer grows (and whether the farmer grows crops or raises livestock) or the method of farming thats being done.

First, lets look at farm size. Youd think that the larger the farming operation, the more people that farm feeds, right? But bigger acreage doesnt necessarily translate into bigger contribution.

Of all the 915 million acres being farmed across America, the average American farm is 434 acres, which is a modestly sized farm. Farms arent considered large until their acreage is at least 1,000 acres (with annual sales between $250,000 and $499,999 — sales larger than $500,000 or more are considered very large farms). Small farms average 231 acres (and very small farms are nine acres or less), and its these small farms that dominate the American farming landscape — as many as 88 percent of U.S. farms are small, with annual sales less than $250,000.

And its the small and moderately sized farms that end up providing more food for people to eat than do the large farms. How? Its a phenomenon experts call the inverse farm size-productivity relationship: Small farms in the U.S. and around the world are more likely to focus their efforts on actually producing food — crops or livestock — for humans to eat, whereas large farms are often more likely to be large-scale operations focused on producing to-be-exported commodities or crops not intended as edible (such as corn for biofuels or soybeans for animal feed). And because of that, farmers of small farms tend to contribute more food for people to eat.

What agricultural products a farm works with and the methods a farmer uses also matter when it comes to the potential number of people that years yield can feed.

In addition to grains, fruits and vegetables, American farmers raise 7 billion livestock animals. These animals are fed more of our farmed grains than people consume — five times more grain. Interestingly, if these crops were fit for and fed to humans instead of animals, the number of people fed by one farm could skyrocket, and the total tonnage could feed as many as 800 million people.

Every year those livestock farms produce a total of 7 million metric tons of animal products. Well look at beef as our example: When it comes to raising cattle and producing animal protein to sell to consumers, the numbers break down to about 400 pounds of steak, ribs and other cuts for the American population to broil, roast or barbecue from one 700-pound animal. While the exact numbers vary depending on the method of raising the livestock (such as grain-fed and pasture-raised), if you consider one serving to be 3 ounces — the recommended serving, which is about the size of a deck of cards — that one animal contains slightly more than 2,100 servings.

And then theres the matter of farming method.

Put aside the ongoing debate on whether organic foods are more nutritious than their conventionally grown counterparts; when were talking about how many people can be fed by one farm, we want to know about yield. And when it comes to organic farming methods, studies find that, generally, organic yields fall short when compared to those grown with conventional farming techniques.

However, before you shoot the messenger, its important to understand that yields depend not only on method, but also on the type of crops were comparing, in addition to whether were looking at best-case scenarios or real-life outcomes. Taking those variables into account paints a more complete picture: The numbers may fall anywhere from just 5 percent smaller to as much as 34 percent smaller.

When comparing certain fruits and vegetables, organic yields seem to outperform conventional. Organically farmed corn, for example, produces a 29 percent lower yield than when conventional methods are used, yet organic raspberry yields outproduce conventionally grown berries . Under the best circumstances using the best methods, organic farming produces 13 percent smaller yields, but, overall, typical organic methods produce 25 percent less.