TIFTON, Ga.— Did you know agriculture is Georgia’s number one industry? How about that Americans spend less on food than consumers in other countries? Yes, agriculture is the food and fiber of your life and is important to all consumers whether you live in a rural, suburban or urban area.

“Agriculture reaches far beyond the farm,” says Armond Morris, Georgia Peanut Commission chairman. “Agriculture includes farmers as well as many urban and suburban residents who process, package, and transport our food to America’s consumers.”

Farming in America is efficient. It takes most Americans just 40 days to earn enough disposable income to pay for all their food for the year, compared with more than 100 days to pay all federal, state and local taxes for the year. In fact, Americans spend 10% of disposable income on food while consumers in France spend 18%, Mexico spends 28% and India spends 51%.

Georgia’s top ten commodities are broilers, cotton, forestry, peanuts, beef cattle, dairy cattle, hatching layers, horses, greenhouse and container nursery. In addition, today’s farm commodities are raw materials for fuels, medical products, inks, industrial compounds, construction materials and other items that strengthen the U.S. economy.

“American farmers are the world’s most productive,” Morris says. “Today, each U.S. farmer produces food and fiber for 144 people.”

Agriculture is Georgia’s number 1 industry and contributes more than $57 billion, or about 16%, annually to Georgia’s $350 billion economic output. Georgia ranks first in the U.S. in the production of peanuts, pecans, rye, eggs and broilers.

According to the National Center for Peanut Competitiveness, the total economic activity generated in 2005 by the peanut sector contributed at least three-quarters of a billion dollars in the peanut belt.

Conservation tillage is now common on America’s farmland and provides for seed germination, plant growth, and weed control while disturbing the soil as little as possible. According to the American Farm Bureau, conservation tillage is on the rise in the U.S. with 103.1 million of the 281.4 million acres farmed using some form of conservation tillage.

Yes, consumers definitely depend on agriculture each day of their lives. Americans depend on an efficient agricultural system to provide a steady supply of food, clothing, housing materials, medicine and other necessities.