We get questions from Arizona consumers all the time on a variety of topics. The question of percentage of farmers in Arizona that are food producers versus fiber producers sent me on a variety of searches to gather an appropriate answer for this Arizonan.

I began by pointing out that, “It might be hard to put a % to this question, but it’s fair to say most Arizona farmers are food and fiber producers. I would even say an alfalfa farmer is a food producer as he’s producing food for beef and dairy cows.”

I went on to explain that the USDA Census of Agriculture might be the best place to get a real sense of our farmers. “To get a real sense of everything Arizona agriculture produces, here is the link to the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture, our most recent Census (it’s done every 5 years):  chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2022/Full_Report/Volume_1,_Chapter_1_State_Level/Arizona/azv1.pdf

Plus, to get a sense of all the food production, check out our “Commodity Wheel.” The wheel represents our top 16 Arizona agriculture commodities. We just released the numbers for the 2023 commodity wheel, below. The 16 top commodities are based on cash receipts and those happen to be gathered annually.

Our two biggest/largest commodities are beef and dairy. Look at the chart above to get a sense of how large the cash receipts are with just beef and dairy. And they are obviously food commodities produced by food producers.

To understand just the fiber numbers, see the statistics below from the USDA’s Census of Agriculture:

According to the 2022 Census of Agriculture

  • 16,710 farms total*
  • 3,519 farms produced wool (many of these are from the tribes) 
  • 736 sold mohair 
  • 200 farms produced cotton 

* This means we have 4,455 fiber producers/farms in Arizona or 26.66% of farms. Of note, that most likely represents only one aspect of their farming. Most cotton farmers also grow alfalfa, wheat and other small grains. Ultimately, those 16,710 farms are 100% food and fiber. Some may not grow any fiber, but they are certainly growing food for something or someone.  

As any of us on staff will tell you, a consumer’s question becomes an exciting investigation for us to highlight our Arizona agriculture.