New federal data show that the value of West Virginia’s agricultural products increased 37 percent over the past five years to a total of $809 million.
The West Virginia Department of Agriculture says officials recently met with federal officials to review preliminary results from the Census of Agriculture.
The findings are produced every five years and the latest information is from 2012.
Officials say West Virginia had nearly 21,500 farms in 2012. That’s down 9 percent from 2007.
Land in farms decreased by only 2 percent to 3.6 million acres during that time.
State officials also noted that West Virginians are consuming more than seven times more food than the $800 million currently being produced in the state.