The United States Department of Agriculture released 2022 Census of Agriculture data in early 2024. The Census of Agriculture provides information on farm-level acres and sales for most crops, and allows us to compare how agricultural businesses have changed over time. This article evaluates how southern berry production has evolved over the last 15 years. Overall, there has been growth in the berry industry in terms of number of operations and average size of berry farms across the region.

berry area

The berry acreage in the south amounted to 82.436 acres in 2022, as shown in the image below. This figure includes both the area of ​​berries in production and that of berries that are not. Georgia led the way with 30.291 acres of berries, followed by Florida with 25.491 acres. All states in the region, except Mississippi and Virginia, increased their berry acreage between 2017 and 2022.

Texas led the way with a 57% increase in berry acreage from 2017 to 2022, closely followed by Georgia with a 56% increase. The southern region surpassed the US in berry acreage growth, as the US as a whole increased 18% over the five-year period, while berry acreage in the south increased 38%. %. The southern states shown on the map accounted for 23% of the US berry acreage in 2022.

Operation scale

The number of berry operations has increased by 15% from 2017 to 2022, up to 12.794 operations (chart below). This follows the 26% increase that occurred from 2012 to 2017. While both berry acres and operations have increased, the acreage has outpaced the increase in the number of farms, resulting in an increase in size average of a berry operation. From 2017 to 2022, the average berry operation in the South increased from 5,3 to 6,4 acres per operation. However, this increase was largely driven by Georgia and Florida, which averaged 19,9 and 15,9 acres of berries per operation in 2022, respectively. Most states in the region averaged between 1 and 3 acres of berries per operation.

This increase in the size of berry production operations is likely due to economies of scale, which occur when the cost per unit of production decreases as the quantity of production increases. This means that larger farms have a lower cost of production per acre. For example, a grower who invests in a mechanized harvester would reduce the average cost of machinery by using the harvester on a greater number of acres, which would reduce the cost per acre and per unit of berries harvested. Additional economies of scale can be obtained by contracting labor (for example, through the H-2A program) or using other machinery and inputs.

Conclusion

There has been continued growth in the number of berry operations, the average size of berry operations and the total area of ​​berry production in the South. Florida and Georgia lead the region in these categories, but most states have seen growth.

Overall, the region has increased its presence in the US berry market, with berry companies accounting for a larger proportion of total farm sales.

However, high input prices pose a challenge for small fruit farms, as well as other specialty crop farms. High labor costs have precipitated demand for mechanization and automation and increased reliance on the H-2A guest worker program. Given the nature of these programs, it is likely that berry farms will continue to show economies of scale and expand to benefit from cost advantages.