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Ag Facts

Essex County

Farmland

  • Nearly five percent of the state's farmland is located in Essex County, totaling 27,856 acres on 400 farms.
  • There is nearly 12,427 acres of cropland in the county.

Economics & Employment

  • Essex County farms sold more than $24.6 million worth of agricultural products in 2002, about six percent of the state total.
  • 1,075 workers are employed on 139 farms in Essex County. 423 of those workers worked on farms 101 days or more during the year.
  • Essex County farms paid more than $8.6 million in wages to workers in 1997.
  • A little more than half of Essex County farm operators report farming as their principle occupation. The remainder report principle occupations off the farm.
  • The average Essex County farmer is 55.8 years old and has operated his or her farm for 20 years.
  • The vast majority of Essex County farms are family owned and operated, including sole proprietorships, partnerships and family-held corporations.

Crops

  • The major commodity group in Essex County is nursery and greenhouse crops, at 55 percent of total agricultural sales.
  • The second largest commodity group is vegetables, and the third is dairy products.

National Rank

Essex County ranks 35th among all U.S. counties in the value of agricultural products sold directly to consumers, at a value of more than $2 million.

Sources: New England Agricultural Statistics, 2006; and U.S. Census of Agriculture, 2002
Compiled by: Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources

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