Specialty Crops (2018)

Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, 

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 

and American Samoa

Volume 2 • Subject Series • Part 9

AC-17-S-9

Issued August 2020

United States Department of Agriculture

Sonny Perdue, Secretary

National Agricultural Statistics Service

Hubert Hamer, Administrator

2017 Census of Agriculture Contents III

USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Contents

Page

Introduction.............................................................................................................................................................V

TABLES 

Specialty Crops for Outlying Areas

1. Specialty Crops – Puerto Rico: 2018 .............................................................................................................. 1

2. Specialty Crops – Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: 2018.................................................... 1

3. Specialty Crops – Guam: 2018........................................................................................................................ 1

4. Specialty Crops – United States Virgin Islands: 2018 .................................................................................... 1

5. Specialty Crops – American Samoa: 2018...................................................................................................... 2

APPENDIX

Methodology and General Terms ....................................................................................................................... A-1

2017 Census of Agriculture Introduction V

USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Introduction

HISTORY 

The 2018 Census of Agriculture Specialty Crop report 

for the Outlying Areas provides data that supplement 

the 2018 Census of Agriculture, Volume 1, 

Geographic Area Series, Parts 52 through 56

publications

(www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2017/). 

This publication complies with Section 101 of the 

Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (7 

U.S.C. §1621 note) and was amended under section 

10010 of the Agricultural Act of 2014, Public Law 

113-79 (the Farm Bill) which defines specialty crops 

as “fruits and vegetables, tree nuts, dried fruits, and 

horticulture and nursery crops (including 

floriculture).” Eligible plants must be cultivated or 

managed and used by people for food, medicinal 

purposes, and/or aesthetic gratification to be 

considered specialty crops. This is the second time 

NASS has summarized and published the census of 

agriculture data for the outlying areas specialty crops

and the first time the publication includes all five

territories. 

USES OF CENSUS DATA

Census statistics are used to measure agricultural 

production and to identify trends in an ever-changing 

agricultural sector. Many local programs use census 

data as a benchmark for designing and evaluating 

surveys. Private industry uses census statistics to 

provide a more effective production and distribution 

system for the agricultural community. One of the 

most important uses of the census data is to justify 

claims of farmers who may suffer damages and 

losses due to natural disasters, such as hurricanes.

LEGAL AUTHORITY

The census of agriculture is required by law under the 

“Census of Agriculture Act of 1997,” Public Law 

105-113 (Title 7, United States Code, Section 2204g). 

The law directs the Secretary of Agriculture to 

conduct a census of agriculture every fifth year, 

covering the prior year. The census of agriculture 

includes each State, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. 

Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of the Northern 

Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.

FARM DEFINITION

The census definition of a farm varies among the 

Outlying Areas. For Guam and the Commonwealth of 

the Northern Mariana Islands, it is the same as the 

fifty states - any place from which $1,000 or more of 

agricultural products were produced and sold, or 

normally would have been sold, during the census 

year. For Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, the 

farm definition is any place from which $500 or more 

of agricultural products were produced and sold, or 

normally would have been sold, during the census 

year. For American Samoa, there is no sales 

requirement to be included in the agriculture census 

and data are collected for all households holding 

livestock and/or producing agricultural products for 

sale or family use. Commercial farms are defined as 

places with sales of $100 or more, and noncommercial 

farms are those with less than $100 in sales. Many of 

the commercial farms produce more for home 

consumption than for sale, but by virtue of having

sales in excess of $100 are classified as commercial.

DATA COMPARABILITY 

In general, the data from the 2018 census are 

comparable with those of previous censuses. All 

dollar values presented in this report are expressed in 

current dollars, i.e., 2018 data are in 2018 dollars. The 

dollar values have not been adjusted for changes in 

price levels between census years. 

REFERENCE PERIOD

Crop production and sales are for the 12-month period 

between January 1 and December 31, 2018.
VI Introduction 2017 Census of Agriculture

USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

TABLES 

Tables 1 through 5 show specialty crops by the 

number of farms, acres harvested, value of sales, and 

the percent of the total value of crop sales accounted 

for each Outlying Area.

RESPONDENT CONFIDENTIALITY

In keeping with the provisions of Title 7 of the United 

States Code, no data are published that would disclose 

information about the operations of an individual 

farm or ranch. All tabulated data are subject to an 

extensive disclosure review prior to publication. Any 

tabulated item that identifies data reported by a 

respondent or allows a respondent’s data to be 

accurately estimated or derived was suppressed and 

coded with a ‘(D)’. However, the number of farms 

reporting an item is not considered confidential 

information and is provided even though other 

information is withheld.

CUSTOM TABULATIONS

Custom-designed tabulations may be developed when 

data are not published elsewhere. These tabulations 

are developed to individual user specifications on a 

cost reimbursable basis and shared with the public. 

Quick Stats, NASS’s online database that allows data 

users to build customized queries, should be 

investigated before requesting a custom tabulation. 

All custom tabulations are subject to a thorough 

disclosure review prior to release to prevent the 

disclosure of any individual respondent data. 

Requests for custom tabulations can be submitted via 

the internet from the NASS home page, by mail, or by 

e-mail to:

DataLab

National Agricultural Statistics Service

Room 5305A, Stop 2054

1400 Independence Avenue, S.W. 

Washington, DC 20250-2054

or 

Datalab@nass.usda.gov

ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

The following abbreviations and symbols are used 

throughout the tables:

- Represents zero.

(D) Withheld to avoid disclosing data for 

individual farms.

(H) Coefficient of variation is greater than or 

equal to 99.5 percent of the standard error is 

greater than or equal to 99.95 percent of the 

mean.

(L) Coefficient of variation is less than 0.05 

percent or the standard error is less than 0.05 

percent of the mean.

(NA) Not available.

(X) Not applicable.

(Z) Less than half of the unit of tabulation.

cwt Hundredweight

sq. ft. Square feet.
2017 Census of Agriculture Specialty Crops - Outlying Areas 1

USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Table 1. Specialty Crops – Puerto Rico: 2018

[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.]

Crop Farms1 Cuerdas harvested Value of sales (dollars) Percent of crop sales2

All crops ..........................................................................................

All specialty crops ...........................................................................

 Coffee3 ........................................................................................

 Pineapples3 .................................................................................

 Plantains3 ....................................................................................

 Bananas3 .....................................................................................

 Pulse crops .................................................................................

 Root crops ...................................................................................

 Fruits and coconuts3 ....................................................................

 Vegetables ..................................................................................

 Nursery crops3 .............................................................................

3,877

3,616

1,363

90

1,353

801

195

770

858

750

303

379,374

47,342

13,283

652

10,624

5,207

590

2,375

8,355

4,127

2,129

242,419,442

157,540,663

4,772,608

2,976,971

42,271,955

10,829,957

1,002,559

8,705,814

18,594,300

33,533,195

34,853,304

100.0

65.0

2.0

1.2

17.4

4.5

0.4

3.6

7.7

13.8

14.4

1 Data are for farms with sales of specialty crops. 2 May not add due to rounding. 3 Cuerdas in production.

Table 2. Specialty Crops – Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: 2018

[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.]

Crop Farms1 Acres2 Value of sales (dollars) Percent of crop sales

All crops ..........................................................................................

All specialty crops ...........................................................................

 Root crops ...................................................................................

 Vegetables and melons ...............................................................

 Fruits and nuts ............................................................................

 Nursery crops ..............................................................................

166

166

74

96

150

29

372

372

86

210

221

18

1,229,905

1,229,905

(D)

638,609

(D)

186,390

100.0

100.0

(D)

51.9

(D)

15.2

1 Data refer to farms with sales of itemized commodities. 2 Acres harvested for root crops and vegetables and melons. Acres in production for fruits and nuts and nursery crops.

Table 3. Specialty Crops – Guam: 2018

[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.]

Crop Farms1 Acres2 Value of sales (dollars) Percent of crop sales

All crops ..........................................................................................

All specialty crops ...........................................................................

 Root crops ...................................................................................

 Vegetables and melons ...............................................................

 Fruits and nuts ............................................................................

 Nursery crops ..............................................................................

254

254

69

160

224

66

665

665

23

351

292

64

3,703,253

3,703,253

(D)

1,840,346

(D)

1,027,980

100.0

100.0

(D)

49.7

(D)

27.8

1 Data refer to farms with sales of itemized commodities. 2 Acres harvested for root crops and vegetables and melons. Acres in production for fruits and nuts and nursery crops.

Table 4. Specialty Crops – United States Virgin Islands: 2018

[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.]

Crop Farms1 Acres2 Value of sales (dollars) Percent of crop sales

All crops ..........................................................................................

All specialty crops3 ..........................................................................

 Field, forage, and root crops .......................................................

 Vegetables ..................................................................................

 Fruits and nuts ............................................................................

 Nursery crops ..............................................................................

400

400

139

241

362

67

1,374

1,568

483

378

570

136

2,528,931

2,528,931

128,692

1,130,809

544,305

725,125

100.0

100.0

5.1

44.7

21.5

28.7

1 Data refer to farms with sales of itemized commodities. 2 Acres harvested for root crops and vegetables and melons. Acres in production for fruits and nuts and nursery crops. 3 Includes acres harvested from double cropping.
2 Specialty Crops - Outlying Areas 2017 Census of Agriculture

USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Table 5. Specialty Crops – American Samoa: 2018

[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.]

Crop Farms1 Acres2 Value of sales (dollars) Percent of crop sales

All crops ...........................................................................................

All specialty crops ............................................................................

 Root crops ...................................................................................

 Vegetables and melons ...............................................................

 Fruits and nuts .............................................................................

 Nursery crops ..............................................................................

6,319

6,319

5,967

4,007

6,210

1,516

9,075

9,075

5,732

1,341

(NA)

299

9,306,483

9,269,527

4,110,497

1,064,877

3,684,313

409,840

100.0

99.6

44.2

11.4

39.6

4.4

1 Data refer to farms with sales of itemized commodities. 2 Acres harvested for root crops and vegetables and melons. Acres in production for fruits and nuts and nursery crops.
2017 Census of Agriculture Appendix A - 1

USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Appendix

Methodology and General Terms

METHODOLOGY

This publication is a special tabulation of data 

collected in the 2018 Census of Agriculture for the 

Outlying Areas. For a description of the methodology 

used in the census, refer to the 2018 Census of 

Agriculture, Volume 1 available for each territory: 

Puerto Rico: 

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2

017/Full_Report/Outlying_Areas/Puerto_Rico/prv1.

pdf

Guam: 

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2

017/Full_Report/Outlying_Areas/guam.pdf

United States Virgin Islands:

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2

017/Full_Report/Outlying_Areas/usvi.pdf

American Samoa: 

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2

017/Full_Report/Outlying_Areas/AmericanSamoa.p

df

Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands: 

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2

017/Full_Report/Outlying_Areas/cnmi.pdf

TERMS AND DEFINITIONS

The following definitions and explanations provide a 

detailed description of specific terms and phrases 

used in this publication. For more details relating to 

the census of agriculture program, go to the NASS 

website at

https://www.nass.usda.gov/Publications/AgCensus/2

017/index.php. 

Acres and Cuerdas. Crops were reported in tenth 

acres for American Samoa, Guam, the Northern 

Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Crops 

were reported in cuerdas in Puerto Rico. One cuerda 

equals .971 of an acre. Totals for crops reported were 

rounded to whole acres or cuerdas at the aggregate 

level during the tabulation process. Nursery and 

greenhouse crops grown under glass or other 

protection were converted to acres or cuerdas for this 

report. 

If two or more crops were harvested from the same 

land during the year (double cropping), the acres or 

cuerdas were counted for each crop. Therefore, the 

sum of all the individual crops harvested generally 

exceeded the acres or cuerdas of harvested cropland. 

Cuerdas. One cuerda equals .971 of an acre. See 

acres and cuerdas for more information. 

Farms. The number of farms represents farms with 

sales of the specified crop, not necessarily the number 

of farms with areas in production. 

Field, forage and root crops. Commodities included 

in this category are cassava (tapioca), dry corn, hay, 

sugarcane, sweet potatoes, taniers, and yams.

Fruits and nuts. Data are for total land in fruits and 

nuts. For Puerto Rico, this land excludes the area in 

coffee, pineapples, plantains, and bananas. That area 

is reported separately for those individual crops. For 

America Samoa, data for acres are not available; the

number of trees were collected for each fruit and nut 

crop. 

Land in vegetables. Data are for the total land used 

for vegetable and melon crops. The acres or cuerdas 

were reported only once, even though two or more 

harvests of a vegetable or more than one vegetable 

were harvested from the same acres. 
A - 2 Appendix 2017 Census of Agriculture

USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service

Percent of crop sales. The value represents the share 

of the specified category of all crop sales (including 

both specialty and other crops). 

Pulse crops. Commodities included in this category 

are dry edible beans and pigeon peas.

Root crops. Commodities included in this category 

are sweet potatoes, yams, ginger, root celery, taro 

(dasheen), giant taro, taniers, cassava (tapioca), and 

gado.

Specialty crops. Included in this category are fruits, 

tree nuts, vegetables, sweet potatoes, melons, pulse 

crops, nursery, greenhouse, floriculture, root crops, 

tubers, and other specialty crops.

Value of sales. Data included in this category are the 

value of sales for all crops in 2018 on farms with 

specialty crops. This includes, but is not limited to, 

row crops, field crops, small grains, forage crops, 

vegetables, fruits and nuts, nursery crops, and other 

specialty crops. 

The value of crops sold in 2018 does not necessarily 

represent the sales from crops harvested in 2018. Data 

may include sales from crops produced in earlier 

years and may exclude some crops produced in 2018 

but held in storage and not sold. 

The value of agricultural products sold was requested

from all producers. If the producers failed to report 

this information, estimates were made based on the 

amount of crops harvested, livestock or poultry 

inventory, or number sold. Sales figures are expressed 

in current dollars and have not been adjusted for 

inflation or deflation.