Top Agricultural Commodities Produced in Florida

Florida generates roughly $7.8 billion in annual agricultural cash receipts (Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 2023 Annual Report), ranking it among the top 15 agricultural states in the nation despite having a land area dedicated to farming that is a fraction of Midwestern giants like Iowa or Illinois. The state's commodity mix is unlike almost anywhere else in the continental United States — a direct consequence of subtropical climate, two distinct growing seasons, and a coastline that enables aquaculture at commercial scale. This page covers the primary commodities by value, how production systems work, where commodity choices diverge based on region and risk, and the boundaries of Florida-specific agricultural classification.

Definition and scope

An agricultural commodity, in Florida's regulatory and economic context, is any plant or animal product produced for sale — encompassing raw and minimally processed outputs from field crops, livestock, nursery stock, and aquatic organisms. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) classifies commodities across five broad sectors: crops, livestock and poultry, dairy, aquaculture, and horticulture (which includes nursery and greenhouse products).

Florida's top commodities by cash receipts, according to FDACS data, cluster into a short list that looks nothing like a conventional farm state:

  1. Greenhouse and nursery products — the single largest commodity sector, valued at over $1.9 billion annually, anchored by ornamental plants, foliage, and sod
  2. Sugarcane — approximately $500 million in annual value, concentrated almost entirely in Palm Beach, Hendry, and Glades counties south of Lake Okeechobee
  3. Cattle and calves — a persistent top-five commodity, with Okeechobee County among the largest cattle-producing counties east of the Mississippi River
  4. Oranges and citrus — historically the flagship commodity, though the sector has contracted sharply since 2005 due to citrus greening (Huanglongbing disease); production dropped from roughly 240 million boxes per season to under 20 million boxes by 2022 (USDA NASS Florida Citrus Summary)
  5. Tomatoes and fresh vegetables — South Florida, particularly Miami-Dade and Collier counties, produces a disproportionate share of the nation's winter vegetables
  6. Strawberries — Plant City in Hillsborough County generates more than 80 percent of Florida's strawberry output and markets the crop almost entirely between December and March
  7. Aquaculture — clams, oysters, shrimp, and ornamental fish, with Florida ranking first nationally in hard clam production

The Florida citrus industry and the Florida sugarcane production pages cover those sectors in greater depth; the Florida vegetable farming and Florida aquaculture industry pages address those supply chains individually.

How it works

Florida agriculture operates on two growing calendars that rarely coexist on a single farm. The winter season, running roughly October through April, is when South and Central Florida's mild temperatures make outdoor vegetable and strawberry production commercially viable at a time when northern states cannot field-grow anything. The summer season, running May through September, belongs primarily to sugarcane (which is a perennial ratoon crop), cattle grazing on improved pasture, and greenhouse/nursery operations that are largely temperature-controlled year-round.

The greenhouse and nursery sector operates more like light manufacturing than conventional farming — climate-controlled facilities, precision irrigation, and outputs measured in units rather than acres. Florida's ornamental plant industry supplies retail garden centers, landscaping contractors, and interior plantscaping operations across the eastern United States, with export markets documented by Florida agriculture export markets analysis.

Cattle operations in Central and North Florida rely on improved Bahia and Bermuda grass pastures, with Brahman and Brangus crossbreeds dominating because of their heat and parasite tolerance. The Florida cattle and beef industry functions primarily as a cow-calf and stocker system — calves are born and weaned in Florida, then shipped to Midwest feedlots for finishing, a structural fact that explains why Florida beef production doesn't translate directly into regional beef processing capacity.

Common scenarios

The Florida strawberry industry illustrates the high-reward, high-risk nature of specialty commodity production. Plant City operations plant transplants in October, betting that the market window between December and March — when California strawberries are largely out of season — justifies premium farmgate prices. A warm January, however, can compress that window and flood the market simultaneously, cutting revenue substantially in a single season.

Sugarcane operates on the opposite end of the volatility spectrum. Contracts with U.S. Sugar and Florida Crystals, the two dominant processors, establish multi-year price arrangements tied partly to federal price support mechanisms under the U.S. Farm Bill — described in the Florida farm bill and federal programs overview. This structure insulates growers from year-to-year price swings but limits upside flexibility.

Aquaculture in the Indian River Lagoon and Gulf coastal counties faces a different set of constraints: water quality permitting, lease agreements with the state for submerged lands, and vulnerability to harmful algal blooms that can cause total crop loss in a matter of days.

Decision boundaries

Commodity choice in Florida is rarely a free variable. It is bounded by soil type (muck soils in the Everglades Agricultural Area suit sugarcane; sandy flatwoods soils in Central Florida favor cattle and nursery crops), water availability governed by the five regional water management districts, and proximity to processing and cold-chain infrastructure.

The distinction between field crops and controlled-environment agriculture is increasingly consequential. Field crops — citrus, vegetables, strawberries — carry full weather and pest exposure. Controlled-environment operations, including greenhouse nurseries and indoor aquaculture systems, trade lower weather risk for higher fixed capital costs and energy exposure.

What this page covers and what falls outside its scope: Coverage here is limited to Florida-produced commodities regulated under Florida law and tracked by FDACS and USDA NASS. Federal commodity programs, multi-state supply chains, and commodity futures markets fall outside this scope. Operations in other states, even those marketing into Florida, are not covered. For the broader landscape of Florida agriculture policy and structure, the Florida agriculture industry overview and the /index provide the full structural context.

References