Data Points To Know from the Latest Census of Agriculture

Posted by Paul Rusnak|February 14, 2024

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has announced results of its 2022 Census of Agriculture. The report features more than 6 million data points down to the county level, according to the government agency. One key finding shows a continued decline in the total number of U.S. farms. However, the data also show a rise in the number of new and beginning (operating 10 or fewer years on any farm) as well as young (under the age of 35) producers.

Here are some key insights into demographics, economics, land use and activities on U.S. farms and ranches:

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.
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.
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 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.

According to USDA NASS, the response rate for the 2022 Census of Agriculture was 61%. More than 40% of responses were submitted online.

The full Census of Agriculture report as well as publication dates for additional ag census data products can be found at nass.usda.gov/AgCensus.