CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- From corn to cows, a compendium of all things agricultural in West Virginia is now available online.
The Annual Bulletin of the West Virginia Agriculture Statistic Service gathers statistics from surveys conducted throughout the year. The in-depth collection of data is published every five years.
"The data collected by the Ag Statistics Service are invaluable to policy-makers," Agriculture Commissioner Walt Helmick said in a news release. "What these numbers indicate to me is a huge opportunity for West Virginia to expand its economy by growing more of what we eat."
Jefferson County was the state's most prolific corn grower in 2013, producing 1.68 million bushels, the bulletin shows. Greenbrier County was the top cattle county with 33,500 cattle on farms, while Pendleton County had the most sheep, 4,500.
Statewide, there were a total 380,000 beef cattle and 200,000 milk cows, 32,000 sheep and lambs. Poultry operations raised 3.1 million turkeys and produced 96.8 million broilers.
Preston County had the most farms in the state, 1,084. The total number of farms was 21,400, down from 21,500 in 2012. The state's record is 105,000 farms set in 1935.
Most farms in West Virginia are small and family operations. The state ranked first in the nation last year in the percentage of small farms, 97.7 percent, and family farms, 93 percent.
West Virginia also ranked ninth in apple production, which totaled 95 million pounds in 2013.
Sixty-three percent of the state's farms had access to computers and 47 percent had Internet access. But only 32 percent used computers for farm business.
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Online:
To access the data, go to http://1.usa.gov/WUzx9G and click under "West Virginia Publications" and then select "Annual Statistical Bulletin" to view.
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