Seventh District Agricultural Economy

Notes: All data are for 2023. The agricultural economy of the Seventh District states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin) produces around 40 percent or more of the U.S. annual output of corn, soybeans, and hogs. Additionally, more than 20 percent of the U.S. production of eggs and milk takes place in Seventh District states.
Source: Chicago Fed staff calculations based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Notes: The chart shows production agriculture’s percentage share of the annual gross state product of the five Seventh District states (Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, and Wisconsin). Over time, the relative importance of agriculture in the Seventh District states has been diminishing. This chart shows agriculture now makes up around 1 percent of the Seventh District states' total economic output, after having fallen even lower at the turn of the millennium. The downward trend in the share started long ago as the U.S. shifted from an agrarian economy to an industrialized one, even as agricultural output rose on account of dramatic increases in productivity.
Source: Chicago Fed staff calculations based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis from Haver Analytics.

Notes: Over the past five decades, yields per acre have increased dramatically for corn and soybeans in the Seventh District. Improved seeds, equipment, pest control, and management practices have helped to substantially boost agricultural productivity in the last half century, enabling fewer farmers to produce more.
Source: Chicago Fed staff calculations based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Notes: All data are for 2022. All values (besides the rankings in parentheses) are in millions of U.S. dollars. Seventh District states rank high nationally in exports of agricultural products, especially corn and soybeans.
Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.