Feb 14, 2024

USDA Census of Agriculture results available

The 2022 Census of Agriculture results, which span more than six million data points about U.S. farmers and their operations are now available from the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS).

The information shows a continued decline in the total number of U.S. farms, but the number of new and beginning farmers operating 10 or fewer years is rising, as well as young producers under the age of 35).The Census of Agriculture report and publication dates for additional ag census data products is at nass.usda.gov/AgCensus. Ag census data can also be found at the NASS searchable online database, Quick Stats.

“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,” Hubert Hamer, administrator at NASS, said in a release. “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.”

Data overview

Ag census data provide insights into demographics, economics, land use and activities on U.S. farms and ranches such as:

• There were 1.9 million farms and ranches (down 7% from 2017) with an average size of 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.
• A total of 153,101 farms and ranches used renewable energy producing systems compared to 133,176 farms in 2017, a 15% increase. The majority of 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.
• 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.