| 1. | North Dakota | 32% |
| 2. | Michigan | 17% |
| 3. | Nebraska | 11% |
| 4. | Minnesota | 9% |
| 5. | Idaho | 8% |
| 6. | Colorado | 5% |
| 7. | California | 5% |
| 8. | Washington | 4% |
Map of U.S. dry bean production by variety [http://www.ag.ndsu.edu/pubs/plantsci/rowcrops/a1133-us.gif]
Each year, U.S. farmers plant from 1.8 to 2 million acres of dry beans.
The USDA web site offers many charts and resources that detail dry bean production statistics in the U.S. Here are a few:
During 2001-03, dry bean farm cash receipts averaged $446 million-ninth among U.S. vegetables.
The United States is the sixth-leading producer of dry edible beans, behind Brazil, India, China, Burma, and Mexico.
Approximately 20% of American-grown beans are shipped to international markets.
In 2005, world production of dry beans was 18 million metric tons, worth an estimated $11 billion (U.S.). The area harvested to dry beans was over 25 million hectares.
Can dry beans be farmed using environmentally sustainable methods?
Dry bean production can be more or less environmentally sustainable, depending on which practices are used. For more information on this topic, please visit the National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service website at http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/drybean.html
Approximately 7.5 pounds of beans are consumed annually, per capita, in the U.S.
Currently, at least 16 major universities are doing extensive dry bean research to develop new varieties of insect and disease-resistant dry beans. And research on nitrogen fixation, drought tolerance and the effects of soil compaction on dry bean root growth also contributes to the ultimate goal of developing higher quality, more cost-effective dry bean crops.
Copyright © 2012 - USDBC, United States Dry Bean Council