Seven Things You Didn’t Know About Chester County Agriculture

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adcLogoWhenever the agricultural industry in Chester County is mentioned, most of us immediately think of mushrooms. And rightfully so.

We do, after all, set the national standard for mushroom production.

Here are some interesting facts about not only our favorite fungus, but the entire agricultural industry in Chester County:

  1. There were 1,730 farms, down (less than 1 percent) from 1,733 in 2007. Currently, our agricultural industry is very stable, although agriculture like any industry can be subject to fluctuations. Some farms may cease operation, while some will consolidate and new farm businesses will be started.
  2. The average size of a farm was 95 acres, a decrease of 1 acre from 2007.
  3. Farmland accounted for 33.9 percent of the 485,600 total acres of land in Chester County.
  4. Chester County ranked 2nd among all 67 Pennsylvania counties in the total value of agricultural products sold with annual sales of $660,744,000 (ranked 54th of over 3,000 counties in the U.S.).
  5. Chester County ranked 1st in Pennsylvania and 1st in the U.S. in the value of nursery, greenhouse, floriculture, sod, and mushrooms with sales of $475,480,000. Mushrooms accounted for $396,757,000 of the total value.
  6. Chester County ranked 2nd in Pennsylvania and 22nd in the U.S. in the value of horses, ponies, mules, burros, and donkeys with sales of $5,249,000.
  7. Chester County ranked 6th in Pennsylvania in the value of milk from cows with sales of $73,185,000 (ranked 112th in the U.S.).

The information contained in this post was obtained from the Chester County Agricultural Development Council.

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