The number of farms in the U.S. fell 7 percent over the past five years to about 1.9 million in 2022, and the average age of U.S. farmers rose slightly to 58.1, according to the latest Census of Agriculture.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture released the comprehensive data today, spanning over 6 million data points about America’s farms and ranches and the people operating them down to the county level.
The data collected through the census highlights changes, trends, and challenges across nearly every aspect of agriculture. It is a key factor in determining farm policy and, hopefully, it helps strengthen rural America’s voice. The census remains the only source of uniform, comprehensive, and impartial agriculture data for every state, county, and U.S. territory.
During a news conference today, put on by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, updates included details by Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack and Under Secretary for Research, Education, and Economics Chavonda Jacobs-Young.
The loss of U.S. farmland continues a downward trend that Vilsack noted has resulted in the loss of over half a million farms since 1981.
“This survey is essentially telling us, asking us the critical question of whether as a country are we okay with losing that many farms,” Vilsack said. “Are we OK with losing that much farmland, or is there a better way?”
The census indicates that many farmers currently rely on a second income stream outside of farming. According to Vilsack, farmers who are forced to work another off-farm job to survive will be better able to generate additional revenue on the farm through climate-smart initiatives and bioproducts.
“My hope is that what we do here is we sent a strong message that we think there is an opportunity if they will join us in creating a different model,” he said. “One that acknowledges and recognizes the importance of production agriculture, and certainly acknowledges the significant investment people have made in very large farming operation. But one that also sends a message of hope and opportunity out to smaller and mid-sized operators by giving them multiple sources of revenue coming in from the farm and not requiring them to work essentially in a second full-time job.”
Another priority that Vilsack addressed was bringing more young people into agriculture.
Here are some key highlights:
- The average size of farms is 463 acres (up 5%) on 880 million acres of farmland (down 2%). That is 39% of all U.S. land.
- Family-owned and operated farms accounted for 95% of all U.S. farms and operated 84% of land in farms.
- U.S. farms and ranches produced $543 billion in agricultural products, up from $389 billion in 2017. With farm production expenses of $424 billion, U.S. farms had net cash income of $152 billion. Average farm income rose to $79,790. A total of 43% of farms had positive net cash farm income in 2022.
- Farms with internet access continued to rise from 75% in 2017 to 79% in 2022.
- A total of 153,101 farms and ranches used renewable energy-producing systems compared to 133,176 farms in 2017, a 15% increase. Most farms (76%) with renewable energy systems reported using solar panels.
- In 2022, 116,617 farms sold directly to consumers, with sales of $3.3 billion. Value of sales increased 16% from 2017.
- The 105,384 farms with sales of $1 million or more were 6% of U.S. farms and 31% of farmland; they sold more than three-fourths of all agricultural products. The 1.4 million farms with sales of $50,000 or less accounted for 74% of farms, 25% of farmland, and 2% of sales.
- Nearly three-fourths of farmland was used by farms specializing in two commodity categories: oilseed and grain production (32%) and beef cattle production (40%).
- The average age of all producers was 58.1, up 0.6 years from 2017. This is a smaller increase than average age increases between prior censuses.
- There were just over 1 million farmers with 10 or fewer years of experience, an increase in the number of beginning farmers from 2017 of 11%. Beginning farmers are younger than all farmers, with an average age of 47.1.
- The number of producers under age 35 was 296,480, comprising 9% of all producers. The 221,233 farms with young producers making decisions tend to be larger than average in both acres and sales.
- In 2022, 1.2 million female producers accounted for 36% of all producers. Fifty-eight percent of all farms had at least one female decision-maker.
Conducted every five years, the Census of Agriculture data intends to capture the landscape of American food and farm producers and highlight the value of U.S. agriculture. The response rate for the 2022 census was 61 percent, and more than 40 percent were answered online.
“We are pleased to provide updated Census of Agriculture data to all those who serve U.S. agriculture, especially the producers who gave their time to complete the questionnaire. Census of Agriculture data tell a story. This comprehensive snapshot every five years helps data users to see trends and shifts in the industry over time and helps producers do business,” said NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer. “Overall, though there are always changes across U.S. agriculture, the data remain largely consistent with the previous ag census. Data users will also notice some new data on the topics of hemp, precision agriculture, and internet access.”
The next agriculture census will be conducted in 2027.
Here’s what USDA NASS had to say about the census
In early 2023, AGDAILY spoke with Lance Honig, Chief of Crops Branch at the USDA’s NASS, about the census. Here’s his reply to some of our questions:
AGDAILY: What value does the census provide when informing policy and resource distribution? Could you provide some examples you have seen?
Honig: Ag census data influence policy and resource distribution and are used by other USDA agencies, ag producers, community planners, legislators and researchers to inform programs.
For example, federal, state, and local policymakers can use NASS data to inform programs and budgets that benefit agriculture constituents. This has resulted in a governor’s commission to support the poultry industry, counties developing right-to-farm legislation and a snow removal budget that ensures clear roads for daily product transportation in one state.
AGDAILY: How does USDA overcome farmer hesitation to respond to the census and how do they protect respondents’ information? Why is this aspect important?
Honig: As the statistical agency for USDA, we are committed to keeping respondents’ information secure and confidential, during and after collection.
During preparation, official estimates and forecasts are prepared under tight security to ensure that only authorized staff working on reports have access to the information before it’s released. All NASS employees have signed a written pledge and are subject to a jail term, fine, or both if they disclose confidential information.
After collection, NASS only publishes aggregated data and never publishes survey results in a way that identifies individuals or their operations unless the individual has approved the release of the data in writing.
Additionally, information provided for NASS surveys is protected by law under Title 7 and the Confidential Information Protection and Statistical Efficiency Act (CIPSEA) which requires that names, addresses, latitude/longitude coordinates, reported data, and other personal information is not disclosed.
AGDAILY: Are there any new data points that the USDA is trying to highlight for 2022 that would be interesting or relevant to the current landscape?
Honig: New questions in this year’s census include the use of precision agriculture, hemp production, hair sheep, and updates to internet access questions.
These new topics reflect changes and trends in U.S. agriculture and allow us to continue to provide relevant agricultural data to decision-makers in addition to helping inform policies and programs to support our nation’s farmers.
This post will be updated throughout the day on Tuesday as information becomes available and data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture is analyzed. So, don’t hesitate to bookmark it!
