Examining the Latest Agricultural Census Data

Examining the Latest Agricultural Census Data

Editor’s Note: This blog post is the first in a two-part series through which NSAC examines the latest Census of Agriculture in more detail. This post explores some of the high-level themes from across the Census, while the subsequent post will take deeper dives into conservation and local foods.

Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released the 2022 Census of Agriculture.

The Census of Agriculture, which has been conducted since 1840 and currently is updated once every five years, serves as perhaps the primary data source for understanding the state of U.S. food and agriculture and is a critical tool for farmers, researchers, and stakeholders because of the wealth of data it contains about everything from farmer demographics to cover crop acreage.

In remarks made on February 13 while releasing the new Census data, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack directed attention to the loss of farmland and farms since the 2017 Census saying:

“What you find is in 2017 there were 2 million farmers, today the survey report shows we have 1.9 million, 142,000 fewer farms in 5 years.” Vilsack continued by asking the gathered audience, “as a country are we ok with losing that many farms, are we okay with losing that much farmland, or is there a better way?”

The disappearance of farms has been a decades-long trend and is commonly traced back to Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz’s 1973 encouragement of farmers to “get big or get out.” While perhaps unsurprising, this continued trend remains troubling, and is one that NSAC is actively working to address through our federal policy advocacy, asking Congress to prioritize the passage of a strong farm bill to ensure that federal programs – from the farm safety net and conservation programs to programs that invest in local and regional food systems – are consistently accessible for all.

Larger and Fewer

Overall, as noted above, the 2022 Census of Agriculture reports that the total number of farms is down nationwide, while the average size of farms continues to increase. As of 2022, there were 1.9 million farms and ranches across the U.S. – a decrease of 6.1 percent over the past 5 years and almost double the rate of decline seen between the 2017 and 2012 census. At the same time, the average size of farms increased slightly to 463 acres, a trend that has continued since the 2012 Census.

While the total number of farm operations shrank markedly, the overall value of all agricultural production decreased only slightly – meaning that as 100,000+ small and medium-sized farms transitioned out of farming over the past five years, their land and production were folded into larger and larger operations. This trend towards increased consolidation is also evident from looking at trends across farm sizes. Over the last five years, all categories of farms declined, except the two largest categories: farms with sales between $1-4.9m and farms with sales over. See the chart below.

Increase in Farm Sales, Income, and Farm Expenses

Overall, both net farm cash income and expenses per farm have increased significantly since 2017. Average net farm cash income was $80 million, up 46% since the last census. Farm expenses averaged $2.2 million, up 28% from $1.6 million in 2017. It is important to note that the 2017 Ag Census came at a time where the data clearly reflected the realities of a sluggish farm economy. In the past several years, farm income and expenses have reached record highs and are projected to level out over the next 2-3 years.

• In 2022, U.S. farms and ranches produced $543.1 billion in agricultural products, up from $388.5 billion in 2017.
• The total value of crop commodities in 2022 was $281 billion, up 45% from 2017. For livestock, the value was $262 billion, up 35%.
• Large farms ($5 million or more in sales) accounted for 42% of all sales, up significantly from only 35% in 2017, despite being just one percent of all farms. Small farms ($50,000 or less in sales) made up 74% of all farms and yet only contributed to 2% of all sales in 2022.
• Over half of all sales, 55%, came from just 10 states, with California remaining on top as the largest producer at $59 billion. Iowa ranks second at $44 billion, with Texas, Nebraska, and Minnesota rounding out the top five.

Beginning Farmers

The 2022 Ag Census saw an increase in the total number of New and Beginning Producers. Slightly over 1 million of the 3.4 million producers in 2022 were beginning farmers. Their average age was 47.1, and their farms were smaller than average in both acres and sales. In addition, there was an over 10% increase in beginning farmers since 2017.

• The average age of a beginning farmer was 47.1, 11 years younger than the average farmer.
• Farms with young producers manage 105 million acres or roughly 12% of all land in farms. Similar to the overall data, the farm size category that included the most farms with young producers was 10-49 acres.
• The amount of land and farms where at least one of the producers is a beginning farmer or rancher went up slightly – from 193.4 million acres to 196.5 million. There was an increase of nearly 33,000 farms owned or leased by beginning farmers.
• The top three states for beginning farmers were Rhode Island, Alaska, and Maine with 41% of all farmers in Rhode Island having farmed for less than 10 years.

Producers and Farms by Ethnicity and Race

One of the most alarming statistics to come out of the 2022 Census was the loss of Black farms. Farms with at least one producer reporting as Black decreased by 13% between 2017 and 2022, from 32,910 farms in 2017 to 28,723 in 2022. This is nearly double the percentage of overall farm loss in the US. The

SDGs, Targets, and Indicators Identified in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

• SDG 2: Zero Hunger
• SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
• SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production (indirectly)

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

• Target 2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers.
• Target 8.3: Promote development-oriented policies that support productive activities, decent job creation, entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation.
• Target 10.2: By 2030, empower and promote the social, economic, and political inclusion of all.
• Target 12.3: By 2030, halve per capita global food waste at the retail and consumer levels and reduce food losses along production and supply chains.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

• Average net farm cash income
• Farm expenses
• Total value of agricultural products
• Value of crop commodities
• Value of livestock
• Percentage of farms with young producers
• Number of beginning farmers
• Number of farms owned or leased by beginning farmers
• Percentage change in farms with producers reporting different races/ethnicities
• Number of certified organic farm operations
• Sales of organic commodities
• Number of farms transitioning to organic production

4. Table: SDGs, Targets, and Indicators