Ag Sector Soars In Florida's Strawberry Country

By Growing Produce Staff|October 20, 2011

Despite a sagging economy and a hard winter, agriculture has made a strong recovery in Hillsborough County. The Hillsborough County Agriculture Industry Development Program and County Extension have released the agriculture sales and acreage estimates for 2010.

According to the data, the 2010 sales estimate of Hillsborough County agriculture products is almost $816 million, up nearly 5% from 2009. The total land area devoted to agriculture in the county is 258,979 acres; and although the amount of farmland has decreased 2.4% since 1997, the production value of the land is up 65% due to the increased farming of higher-value-per-acre commodities, such as strawberries and blueberries.

Hillsborough County covers more than 1,000 square miles, of which 39% is used for agriculture production. The county ranks as the 4th largest producer of agricultural products in the state, and 59th out of 3,076 counties in the U.S. Hillsborough has 2,843farms, the 2nd most of any county in Florida.
Hillsborough County produces 90% of the strawberries grown in Florida; nearly 11% of the strawberries grown in the nation; as well as the most tropical fish of all counties in the state. Strawberries continue to be the highest sales crop at $366,046,522, which is almost 45% of the County’s total agricultural sales. Hillsborough also produces 14% of Florida’s tomatoes and 5% of the tomatoes grown in the U.S.
The next highest sales crops after strawberries are:

Ornamental plants at second with $144,403,830, accounting for 17.7% of annual sales.
Vegetable production at third at $140,000,000, with 17.2% of annual sales.
Aquaculture at fourth with $27,577,981 and 3.4% of annual sales.
Beef cattle/pasture fifth at $20,078,142 for 2.5% of annual sales.

Source: Hillsborough County Economic Development