DYK? Farmers Get Less Than 6 Cents of the Food Dollar

The latest data from the USDA Economic Research Service Food Dollar Series provide a clear picture of how consumer food spending is distributed across the U.S. food supply chain. One of the clearest insights from the industry group breakdown is how small the farm share of consumer food spending is, and how it is shifting year over year.

According to the latest estimates, crop producers capture about 2.5 cents of every food dollar, down from 2.9 cents in 2023, while livestock producers receive roughly 3.3 cents, up from 3 cents a year earlier. These shares are averages across all food purchases; a given dollar spent goes toward either a crop- or animal-based product, but when aggregated across all food spending, both categories are reflected in the same “food dollar.”
Combined, farmers and ranchers account for about 5.8 cents of total value added in the food system, down from 5.9 cents in 2023.

While agricultural production remains essential to the entire supply chain, these year-over-year shifts highlight both continued pressure on the crop sector and modest gains in livestock, reinforcing that farm-level value capture remains a small and evolving share of overall food system spending.

USDA’s Economic Research Service intel shows the share of the consumer food dollar returning to farmers remains relatively small and continues to decline over time.

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RELATED CONTENT: Value of the Food Dollar Is Shrinking for Farmers — Why We Should ‘Give a Fork’

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In 2024, farmers received 11.8 cents of every dollar spent on domestically produced food, down from 12.1 cents in 2023, a 2.5% decrease year over year. The remaining 88.2 cents went toward the marketing bill, which includes costs associated with food processing, transportation, packaging, wholesaling, retailing and food service. The farmers’ share represents the portion of consumer spending tied directly to the value of raw agricultural commodities, while the marketing bill reflects the growing costs and value added beyond the farm gate. Over time, this shift illustrates how an increasing share of food spending is driven by services and supply chain activities rather than farm production itself.

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