BUTLER/CUNNINGHAM

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click here to contact Mike Polioudakis, site developer

polioej@acesag.auburn.edu

Level 2

AL Ag Facts:

Production

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Alabama typically follows the country in that the total acres in production, and often the total produced, peaked around 1950-1960. Alabama differs from the country in that (1) its yields per acre are usually lower than the national averages, and (2) the amount of land devoted to common products such as corn, wheat, and swine has dwindled considerably since the peak. Alabama simply can't compete with other regions of the country because of its poor weather and poor soils, so most Alabama farmers have quite trying. It is not entirely clear what markets (local, regional or national) the farmers that are still in business sell to.

The large set of 11 buttons on the left leads to data on Alabama production and yields for many major products. This data was taken from the USDA-NASS-IPEDB site by focusing on Alabama and setting a statistical interval of 5 years. The files show results from 1900 to 2000 in 5 year intervals, where the data are available. Some years are blank. Not all the products of interest in Alabama had enough statistics available from this USDA/NASS site to produce data files; for example, aquaculture and poutry are not available from there. The data files are in comma delimited format (CDV); you can certainly read them if you have Microsoft Excel installed on your system and can probably read them if you have another modern spreadsheet software program on your system. Once you open them, you might wish to adjust a few column widths to make them easier to read for you; any such adjustments by you do not affect the system as a whole. If this is too cumbersome, email the site developer and he will put on a simpler format.

The last two buttons of this large set portray (1) the total number of farms and farm land in Alabama, and (2) the number of farms in Alabama by class of farm according to revenue. The breakdown by farm classes has data only for the last couple of decades but is still useful to look at.

Comparative Yields for Alabama and Other States

The next three buttons (in their own set) show comparative yields for Alabama and several other states, for a representative field crop (corn) and for an animal product (dairy). The first two buttons are the detailed version; the third button is an easy-to-view version with a comparison between just two years, 1960 and 2000. The four states to be compared for corn yields are Alabama, Indiana, Iowa and Oregon. Indiana and Iowa have excellent yields per acres, while Oregon has good yields and Alabama has poor yields. This pattern has been consistent across the last 100 years but only became a serious problem as the nationalization and internationalization of markets forced Alabama out. The four states to be compared for dairy yields are Alabama, Indiana, Minnesota and Oregon. The same pattern holds as for corn, except that Oregon had the best dairy yields and Alabama yields increased to near-average in the last couple of decades although it was still below aveage. The increase came largely because many poor producers just dropped out rather than because Alabama as a whole improved its yields.