Kit Carson County, Colorado
Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture
559 farms1,376,521 acres in farms$765 million in farm sales
No other county in Colorado with a published figure has more corn for grain or wheat than Kit Carson County.
Its number of cattle and calves grew between 2017 and 2022, the fourth-largest increase among the 100 leading cattle 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 | $186 million | 3rd of 31 |
What the fields held
Kit Carson County harvested 449,527 acres of cropland in 2022, first of 54 counties in Colorado. Corn for grain covered acreage equal to 42% of that, wheat 39%.
| Crop | Acres | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Corn for grain | 190,363 | 0.24% |
| Wheat | 177,458 | 0.48% |
| Hay and haylage | 30,041 | 0.06% |
| Grain sorghum | 29,934 | 0.64% |
| Corn for silage | 9,496 | 0.16% |
| Sunflower | 7,464 | 0.47% |
| Soybeans | 1,085 | under 0.1% |
| Oats | 72 | under 0.1% |
Withheld to protect individual farms: barley, canola, dry edible beans and vegetables.
How much of the county is farmland
Share of the county land in farms99.5%
Kit Carson County ranks fourth of 59 counties in Colorado on this measure.
- 893,957 acres of cropland, 65% of farmland
- 478,400 acres of pastureland, 35% of farmland
- 559 acres of woodland, under 0.1% of farmland
- 84,681 acres irrigated
Farm sizes
Farms in Kit Carson County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 649 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 2,462 acres, seventh-largest of 54 in Colorado. The most common size class is 2,000+ acres, with 31.7% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 43.5% of the total.
Barns, pens and pastures
| Animals | Head | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Cattle and calves | 234,841 | 0.27% |
| Sheep and lambs | 1,309 | under 0.1% |
| Horses and ponies | 281 | under 0.1% |
| Goats | 130 | under 0.1% |
| Laying hens | 458 | under 0.1% |
Withheld: beef cows, milk cows, hogs and pigs and broilers sold.
Who farms here
Decisions on Kit Carson County's 559 farms are made by 1,069 producers. Their average age is 58.9, 0.6 years above the Colorado average. Women are 37.9% of them.
Five years earlier
| Measure | 2017 | Change to 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Farms | 574 | −2.6% |
| Land in farms, acres | 1,357,856 | +1.4% |
| Average farm size, acres | 2,366 | +4.1% |
| Farm products sold (current dollars) | $474 million | +61.3% |
| Grain sorghum, acres | 30,817 | −2.9% |
| Wheat, acres | 233,352 | −24.0% |
| Sunflower, acres | 13,005 | −42.6% |
| Cattle and calves, head | 173,384 | +35.4% |
Nearest rivals
- Grain sorghum between Carson County, TX and Thomas County, KS
- Wheat between Blaine County, MT and Harper County, KS
- Sunflower between Spink County, SD and Polk County, MN
- Cattle and calves between Yakima County, WA and Randall County, TX
Counties with a similar sales mix
- Gilliam County, Oregon largest group: grains and oilseeds; mix match 99%
- Sharkey County, Mississippi largest group: grains and oilseeds; mix match 99%
- Issaquena County, Mississippi largest group: grains and oilseeds; mix match 99%
Kit Carson County accounts for 8.3% of farm sales in Colorado and 1.6% of the farms in Colorado. Rank Colorado counties for grain sorghum.
Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.