Wheat:In 2023, Pennsylvania grew 17.5 million bushels of winter wheat. As one of the top most valuable crops in the state, wheat makes $103.6 million annually.
Tobacco:A huge cash crop for Pennsylvania, farmers grow about 9,000 acres of tobacco each year in the state. An acre of tobacco can generate $5,000 for the grower.
Soybeans:Soybeans are processed as soy meal to feed chickens, cows, hogs, turkeys, and other livestock within Pennsylvania. Aquafarmers also utilize soy meal as feed.
Pumpkins:The demand for pumpkins during the fall season and their incorporation into food make pumpkins a money-making crop.
Peaches: However, a peach orchard requires a lot of maintenance, like mowing, pesticide application, fruit thinning, and harvesting. Even still, a peach orchard strongly produces for 15 to 20 years.
Oats:Oats are a popular cool-season grain. It grows quickly during the fall, and farmers utilize oats as “nurse crops.” Nurse crops are annual crops used to help establish a perennial crop.
Hay:Accounting for about 19 percent of the major crops that Pennsylvanian farms grow, hay is the second-most valuable crop at $729.5 million annually.
Corn: Corn generates about $1 billion annually, making it the most valuable crop in Pennsylvania. It is the most popular annual crop grown on farms and is widely used to feed livestock and dairy cows.
Barley:Barley is also a useful cover crop in the state. It maintains soil quality, prevents erosion, controls weeds, and prevents wind damage to other crops.
Apples:As the most popular fruit on the market, Pennsylvania produced 556 million pounds of apples in 2021. Out of all the states, Pennsylvania is ranked 4th in apple production.