New Census Shows Alarming Loss of Family Farms
“New Census Shows Alarming Loss of Family Farms.” American Farm Bureau Federation, https://www.fb.org/news-release/new-census-shows-alarming-loss-of-family-farms. Accessed 26 Feb. 2025.
New agriculture census data released by USDA today is cause for concern as the number of farms operating in the United States and the number of farm acres have both fallen significantly. The 2022 Census of Agriculture reports 141,733 fewer farms in 2022 than in 2017. The number of farm acres fell to 880,100,848, a loss of more than 20 million acres from just five years earlier.
“The latest census numbers put in black and white the warnings our members have been expressing for years,” said AFBF President Zippy Duvall. “Increased regulations, rising supply costs, lack of available labor and weather disasters have all squeezed farmers to the point that many of them find it impossible to remain economically sustainable.
“Family farms not only help drive the economy, they allow the rest of the nation the freedom to pursue their dreams without worrying about whether there will be enough food in their pantries. We urge Congress to heed the warning signs of these latest numbers. Passing a new farm bill that addresses these challenges is the best way to help create an environment that attracts new farmers and enables families to pass their farms to the next generation.”
While it’s encouraging that the number of beginning farmers increased, the latest census numbers show the number of farmers over the age of 65 is outpacing younger farmers. Almost 1.3 million farmers are now at or beyond retirement age, while just 300,000 farmers are under the age of 35. AFBF has long-established policies supporting beginning farmers, including through farm bill programs focused on new and beginning farmers.
Read the full 2022 Census of Agriculture here.
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After peaking at 6.8 million farms in 1935, the number of U.S. farms fell sharply until the early 1970s. Rapidly falling farm numbers during the earlier period reflected growing productivity in agriculture and increased nonfarm employment opportunities. Since 1982, the number of U.S. farms has continued to decline, but much more slowly. In the most recent survey, there were 1.89 million U.S. farms in 2023, down 7 percent from the 2.04 million found in the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Similarly, acres of land in farms continued a downward trend with 879 million acres in 2023, down from 900 million acres in 2017. The average farm size was 464 acres in 2023, only slightly greater than the 440 acres recorded in the early 1970s.
Source: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/chart-detail?chartId=58268#:~:text=After%20peaking%20at%206.8%20million,recorded%20in%20the%20early%201970s..
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And after WWII when he left the farm, it also mirrors the steady decline which I think is due in large part to the use of chemical fertilizers after the war. I’ve read that there was a surplus of nitrogen after the war, and people decided to convert that surplus into nitrogen fertilizer, which increased yields by a lot.
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