USDA releases 2022 Census of Agriculture data

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

• 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.
• 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. 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.
• 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 the average age increases between prior censuses.
• There were just over 1 million farmers with 10 or fewer years of experience, an 11% increase in the number of beginning farmers from 2017. 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.

Click here to view the full Census of Agriculture report.