Baca County, Colorado
Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture
696 farms1,236,174 acres in farms$131 million in farm sales
Among US counties with published figures, Baca County ranks eighth for grain sorghum.
Its producers are among the oldest in the country, with the ninth-highest average age of the 2,346 counties that have at least 500 producers.
Its wheat acreage shrank between 2017 and 2022, the fourth-steepest decline among the 100 leading wheat counties of 2017 with figures in both years.
Sales by product group
| Product group | Sales | Rank in state |
|---|---|---|
| Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas | $73.2 million | 7th of 31 |
| Cattle and calves | $54.7 million | 8th of 50 |
| Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys | $157,000 | 31st of 43 |
| Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk | $49,000 | 39th of 46 |
| Poultry and eggs | $12,000 | 35th of 41 |
What the fields held
| Crop | Acres | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Grain sorghum | 76,636 | 1.6% |
| Wheat | 70,031 | 0.19% |
| Corn for grain | 48,039 | 0.06% |
| Hay and haylage | 15,531 | under 0.1% |
| Sunflower | 5,856 | 0.37% |
| Corn for silage | 1,518 | under 0.1% |
| Soybeans | 269 | under 0.1% |
Withheld to protect individual farms: potatoes, vegetables, orchard land and pecans.
How much of the county is farmland
Share of the county land in farms75.6%
Baca County ranks 15th of 59 counties in Colorado on this measure.
- 692,426 acres of cropland, 56% of farmland
- 537,211 acres of pastureland, 43% of farmland
- 40,768 acres irrigated
Farm sizes
Farms in Baca County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 640 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 1,776 acres, 13th-largest of 54 in Colorado. The most common size class is 180–499 acres, with 23.4% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 38.8% of the total.
Barns, pens and pastures
| Animals | Head | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Beef cows | 19,320 | 0.07% |
| Cattle and calves | 37,007 | under 0.1% |
| Horses and ponies | 415 | under 0.1% |
| Goats | 364 | under 0.1% |
| Sheep and lambs | 116 | under 0.1% |
| Laying hens | 390 | under 0.1% |
| Hogs and pigs | 44 | under 0.1% |
Withheld: broilers sold.
Who farms here
Decisions on Baca County's 696 farms are made by 1,267 producers. Their average age is 63.2, 4.9 years above the Colorado average. Women are 44.2% of them.
Five years earlier
| Measure | 2017 | Change to 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Farms | 667 | +4.3% |
| Land in farms, acres | 1,471,783 | −16.0% |
| Average farm size, acres | 2,207 | −19.5% |
| Farm products sold (current dollars) | $114 million | +14.7% |
| Grain sorghum, acres | 79,903 | −4.1% |
| Sunflower, acres | 5,961 | −1.8% |
| Wheat, acres | 133,845 | −47.7% |
| Beef cows, head | 26,091 | −26.0% |
Nearest rivals
- Grain sorghum between Gray County, KS and Kearny County, KS
- Sunflower between Solano County, CA and Starr County, TX
- Wheat between Russell County, KS and Wallace County, KS
- Beef cows between Nemaha County, KS and Montgomery County, KS
Counties with a similar sales mix
- Dixon County, Nebraska largest group: grains and oilseeds; mix match 99%
- Hitchcock County, Nebraska largest group: grains and oilseeds; mix match 99%
- Wibaux County, Montana largest group: grains and oilseeds; mix match 99%
Baca County accounts for 1.4% of farm sales in Colorado and 1.9% of the farms in Colorado. Rank Colorado counties for grain sorghum.
Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.