Overview
The United States is among the top producers and consumers
of fruit and tree nuts in the world. Each year, fruit
and tree nut production generates about 13 percent of
U.S. farm cash receipts for all agricultural crops. Annual
U.S. per capita use of fruit and tree nuts totals nearly
300 pounds, fresh-weight equivalent. Oranges, apples,
grapes, and bananas are the most popular fruit while almonds,
pecans, and walnuts are the most preferred tree nuts.
This briefing room presents economic analyses and data about U.S. fruit and tree nuts, including data
on harvested acreage, commercial production, crop value,
trade, and per capita use for various citrus and noncitrus
fruit crops and tree nuts.
Choose a link below for an commodity spotlight:
All articles are in Adobe
Acrobat PDF 
format. For the most recent information on a commodity, see Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook.
Features
Fruit and Tree Nuts Outlook,
issued five times a year, provides current intelligence
and forecasts the effects of changing conditions in the
U.S. fruit and tree nuts sector. Topics include production,
consumption, shipments, trade, prices received, and more.
2008 Farm Bill Side-By-Side (August 2008) presents a title-by-title summary of key provisions of the 2008 Act in a side-by-side comparison with previous legislation. The side-by-side includes links to related ERS publications and to analyses of previous farm acts. New features include a user's guide, an A-Z list of major provisions, and a search function.
The Japanese Market for Oranges (March 2008) reviews the trade, production, and consumption of oranges in Japan, which is one of the largest markets for U.S. orange exports. Consumption and trade peaked in the mid-1990s. The report uses recent research findings about demographic and economic changes that might explain why consumption has fallen off in the past 15 years.
Recommended Readings
Are Lower Income Households Willing and Able To Budget for Fruits and Vegetables? (January 2008) analyzes the relationship between income and fruit and vegetable consumption by low-income households. Discrepancies between actual consumption and Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommendations are fueling interest in ways to promote more intake of fruits and vegetables, especially among low-income households. Could small adjustments to the buying power of low-income households increase their purchases of fruits and vegetables?
Increased
U.S. Imports of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables (September 2007) have allowed
U.S. consumers to eat more fruit and vegetables and enjoy
year-round access to various fresh produce. Primary suppliers
are the North American Free Trade Agreement region for
fresh vegetables, the Southern Hemisphere countries for
off-season fresh fruit, and equatorial countries for bananas.
Fruit and
Vegetable Backgrounder (April 2006) describes the economic characteristics
of the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry, providing supply,
demand, and policy background for an industry that accounts
for nearly a third of U.S. crop cash receipts and a fifth
of U.S. agricultural exports. A variety of challenges
face this complex and diverse industry in both domestic
and international markets, ranging from immigration reform
and its effect on labor availability to international
competitiveness.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Fruit
and Tree Nuts Yearbook contains 150 downloadable spreadsheet
tables (*.xls) detailing over 20 years of annual or monthly
data for U.S. bearing acreage, production, prices, trade,
per capita use, and more.
The U.S. Blueberry Industry provides 42 downloadable spreadsheet tables of annual data on U.S. and State harvested acreage, yield, production, prices, crop value, trade, and per capita use of blueberries. Also includes monthly data on shipments, imports, and exports, and world data on production and trade.
The
U.S. Strawberry Industry provides 24 downloadable
spreadsheet tables detailing over 30 years of annual and
monthly data describing the fresh and processed strawberry
markets, including acreage, yield, production, value,
trade, and per capita use. Includes a state-level production
series.
Procurement and Contracting by Organic Handlers provides information on procurement practices and use of contracts by certified organic handlers (packers, shippers, manufacturers, processors, brokers, and distributors). Procurement information includes basic firm characteristics, their purchasing habits, and their relationship with suppliers. Contracting information includes the use of written and verbal contracts with their suppliers.
Commodity and Food Elasticities Database allows queriable searches of income, expenditure, and own- and cross-price elasticities for specific commodities and countries, which can be ranked and sorted. The elasticities are mainly from U.S. research on consumer demand published in working papers, dissertations, and peer-reviewed journals. The greatest number of demand studies are for vegetables, fruits, meat, and grocery products in the United States and China.
Phytosanitary Regulation of the Entry of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables into the United States contains information on the countries eligible, according to USDA's Animal and Plant Health and Inspection Service, to export certain fresh fruits and vegetables to the United States and provides data on global production and trade for these commodities.
Related Briefing Rooms
Agricultural Baseline Projections
Food Market Systems
in the U.S.
Organic Agriculture
Vegetables and Melons
U.S. agricultural Trade
NAFTA
WTO
Related Links
Check our links to other sites
with economic information about fruit and tree nuts.
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