Rhode Island Agriculture
Agriculture is one of Rhode Island’s top industries, along with health services, tourism and manufacturing. Farmland covers about 10 percent of the smallest state’s land at over 69,000 acres. Top commodities produced on Rhode Island’s 1,243 farms include greenhouse and nursery products, dairy, sweet corn, and apples. Farmers grow potatoes, too, mostly in the southeastern part of the state. Milk is the second most important income source for farmers.
Aquaculture is also a top earner in the Ocean State, which includes 60 aquaculture operations. Oysters are the No. 1 aquaculture product – over 8.2 million oysters harvested by Rhode Island farmers are sold for eating.