In Alabama, every season is growing season. Year over year, the skilled hands behind Alabama’s food production businesses prove there is a green thumb behind what gives the state agriculture industry a national reputation.
Every year, Alabama’s soil is tilled for all types of success. Around 39,000 farms on 8.3 million acres of in the state yield a bounty of agriculture products. Alabama ranks second among the states in freshwater fish production, third in poultry production, third in peanut production, and in the Top 10 for cotton production. Agricultural cash receipts totaled an estimated $4.7 billion in 2020, with the top commodities being broilers and chicken eggs.
The real workhorse here is Alabama’s 40,000-strong agriculture workforce, whose hard work supported $800 million worth of exports in 2021, including $341 million in food products, $326 million in agricultural products and $133 million in livestock and related products.
Quick Facts
- Agriculture and food products exports from Alabama totaled $800 million in 2021
- Over 38,000 farms in operation
- Over 400 production and beverage product establishments in Alabama
- 8.3 million acres of farm land
- No. 2 in U.S. freshwater fish sales
- No. 3 in U.S. poultry production
- No. 3 in U.S. peanut production
Agriculture Products & Food Production Companies
- Wayne Farms
- R.L. Zeigler
- Sunshine Mills
- Priester’s Pecan Co.
- Keystone
- Mrs. Stratton’s Salads
- Tyson Foods
- Lancaster Colony
- Red Diamond Tea & Coffee
- Bud’s Best Cookies
- Alaga
- Koch Foods
- Royal Cup Coffee
- Barber Dairies
- Buffalo Rock
- Golden Flake Snack Foods
- Pilgrim’s Pride
- Golden State Foods
- Mar-Jac Poultry
- To Your Health Sprouted Flour Co.
- Coca-Cola United
- ConAgra
- John Soules Food
Resources
- Alabama Dept. of Agriculture & Industries (286KB pdf)
- Alabama Agribusiness Council
- Alabama Cooperative Extension Service
- Alabama Cattlemen’s Association
- Alabama Farmers Cooperative
- Auburn University College of Agriculture
- Alabama Agricultural Statistics Service
- Alabama Poultry & Egg Association
- Alabama Peanut Producers Association
- Alabama Department of Labor Employment Overview
- EDPA Industry Profile
- DTN Commodity Market
- Alabama Cooperative Economic Impact Report