{"id":58400,"date":"2024-03-08T10:43:42","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T15:43:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sustainableagriculture.net\/?p=58400"},"modified":"2024-03-08T10:43:44","modified_gmt":"2024-03-08T15:43:44","slug":"examining-the-latest-agricultural-census-data","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainableagriculture.net\/blog\/examining-the-latest-agricultural-census-data\/","title":{"rendered":"Examining the Latest Agricultural Census Data"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Editor\u2019s 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.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released<\/a> the 2022 Census of Agriculture<\/a>. 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In remarks<\/a> 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: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201c<\/em><\/strong>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.\u201d<\/em> Vilsack continued by asking the gathered audience, \u201cas a country<\/em> are we ok with losing that many farms, are we okay with losing that much farmland, or is there a better way?<\/em>\u201d <\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The disappearance of farms has been a decades-long trend and is commonly traced back to Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz\u2019s 1973 encouragement of farmers to \u201cget big or get out<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 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 \u2013 from the farm safety net and conservation programs to programs that invest in local and regional food systems \u2013 are consistently accessible for all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Separately, the Secretary highlighted the increasing average age of farmers in the United States. In 2022, the average age of all U.S. farm producers was 58.1 years, up 0.6 years from 2017, continuing a long-term trend of aging in the U.S. producer population. Additionally, the number of producers between the ages of 35-64 declined by 9%, and the number of producers 65 and over increased by 12%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One bright spot is the significant increase in young producers since the 2017 Census. The data show a 7% increase in farmers under 44 with the largest jump among the youngest producers, those under 25 years of age. Furthermore, new and beginning producers<\/a>, defined as farmers and ranchers who have operated a farm or ranch for not more than 10 consecutive years, increased in both the number of producers and the share of all producers. Slightly over 1 million of the 3.4 million producers in 2022 have farmed for less than 10 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Larger and Fewer<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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. \u2013 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the total number of farm operations shrank markedly, the overall value of all agricultural production decreased only slightly \u2013 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 farms with sales between $1-4.9m and farms with sales over. See the chart below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture \u2013 National Agricultural Statistics Service<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Increase in Farm Sales, Income, and Farm Expenses<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n