Agronometrics: Farm share falls to 11.8¢ of the food dollar

Farm share in the United States fell 2.5 percent in 2024, says a recent report by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). 

During that time, US farm establishments received 11.8 cents per dollar spent on domestically produced food, with the remaining 88.2 cents reflecting the marketing share, covering post-farmgate costs such as transportation, processing, distribution, and retail and foodservice activities.

The Food Dollar framework tracks how consumer food spending is distributed across the supply chain, expressed as cents per dollar.

Farm share peaked in the early 2010’s at over 16 cents per dollar and has gradually declined over the past decade, reaching 12.1 cents in 2023 before falling further in 2024.

The trend behind a dropping farm share

For fresh fruit markets, this trend reflects a clear structural shift: a greater share of the consumer food dollar is now captured beyond the farm gate. While the underlying product remains largely unchanged, more value is being added through how fruit is handled, marketed, and delivered to consumers.

As supply chains evolve, a growing share of value in fresh produce is tied to packaging, cold-chain logistics, and retail positioning rather than production alone. For growers and exporters, this shift makes it increasingly important to understand where margins are captured and how participation in downstream segments influences overall competitiveness.

*Main image is referential; graphs courtesy of Agronometrics.  

Related stories

Record Mexican shipments drop US avocado prices to $1 per pound

Sharp drop in blueberry prices in China due to production expansion