As far as jobs go, agriculture produces 580,295 jobs in the state, with forestry leading the tally at 122,020 direct and support jobs, according to federation figures.

There are more than 48,500 farms in the state, covering 9 million acres, federation data shows. On the forestry side, 22 million acres, or two-thirds of the state, are covered in forest land, according to the Alabama Forestry Commission. That's good enough to put Alabama third among the 48 contiguous states for timberland total, behind Georgia and Oregon.

And 71 percent of that forest land is in the hands of private or non-industrial owners.

Austin Perry, of Prattville, is one of those forestland owners. He recently had about 60 acres of woods in Lowndes County thinned. The money went to the college funds for the Perry's children; daughter Maddy, 6, and son, Peyton, 2.

"The farm has been in the family for generations," he said. "We don't farm row crops or cows anymore, we use if for a hunting club. But we do manage the timber. We got a pretty good check when we thinned earlier this summer. It all went to the college fund."

The Top Five commodities in the state are poultry; cattle and calves; greenhouse, sod and nursery products; cotton and peanuts. The state exports more than $1 billion in agricultural goods each year, with poultry making up one-third of that total.

Alabama ranks high nationally in production, coming in second in catfish production, second in forest products, third in broiler production, third in sod production and eighth in cotton production, according to the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture.

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