Massachusetts

Agriculture

As of 2002, there were 6,000 farms in Massachusetts, covering 560,000 acres (227,000 hectares). Farming was mostly limited to the western Massachusetts counties of Hampshire, Franklin, and Berkshire, and southern Bristol County. Total agricultural income for 2001 was estimated at $367 million (47th of the 50 states), of which crops provided 74%. Although the state is not a major farming area, it is a leading producer of cranberries in the US; production for 2002 was 141,600,000 lb about 26% of the US total. Output totals for other crops in 2002 were as follows: corn for silage, 315,000 tons; hay, 200,000 tons; and tobacco, 1,845,000 lb. While of local economic importance, these figures are tiny fractions of US totals.