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Mar. 23, 2026
by Faith Parum, Ph.D., Economist, American Farm Bureau Federation Washington, DC -- Key Takeaways •In 2024, USDA estimates that farmers and ranchers received a combined 5.8 cents of every food dollar, down slightly from 5.9 cents in 2023, meaning less than 6 cents reaches the farm after accounting for production expenses. •Within that total, crop producers saw their share decline from 2.9 to 2.5 cents, while livestock producers experienced a modest increase from 3 to 3.3 cents, highlighting divergent trends across sectors. •With farmers capturing only a small share of the food dollar, even modest swings in commodity prices or increases in input costs can quickly strain farm finances. The latest data from the USDA Economic Research Service Food Dollar Series provide a clear picture of how consumer food spending is distributed across the U.S. food supply chain. While farmers and ranchers produce the raw commodities that make food production possible, most of the economic value associated with food spending - the price at the grocery store or restaurant - is tied to what happens after those products leave the farm. The Food Dollar Series tracks how each dollar spent by consumers on food is divided among the industries that contribute value along the supply chain. These industries include farming, food processing, transportation, packaging, wholesaling, retail and food service. As food moves through these stages, additional services, labor and infrastructure add value, and increase costs, to the final product. Industry Bill: Farmers Receive Less Than 6 Cents of the Food Dollar One of the clearest insights from the industry group breakdown is how small the farm share of consumer food spending is, and how it is shifting year over year. According to the latest estimates, crop producers capture about 2.5 cents of every food dollar, down from 2.9 cents in 2023, while livestock producers receive roughly 3.3 cents, up from 3 cents a year earlier. Importantly, these shares are averages across all food purchases; a given dollar spent goes toward either a crop- or animal-based product, but when aggregated across all food spending, both categories are reflected in the same "food dollar." Combined, farmers and ranchers account for about 5.8 cents of total value added in the food system, down from 5.9 cents in 2023. While agricultural production remains essential to the entire supply chain, these year-over-year shifts highlight both continued pressure on the crop sector and modest gains in livestock, reinforcing that farm-level value capture remains a small and evolving share of overall food system spending.
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