Brooks County, Georgia
Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture
392 farms207,151 acres in farms$193 million in farm sales
No other county in Georgia with a published figure has more corn for silage or soybeans than Brooks County.
Its cotton acreage grew between 2017 and 2022, the fifth-largest increase among the 100 leading cotton counties of 2017 with figures in both years.
Sales by product group
| Product group | Sales | Rank in state |
|---|---|---|
| Milk from cows | $44.2 million | 2nd of 12 |
| Cotton and cottonseed | $39.7 million | 8th of 72 |
| Vegetables, melons and potatoes | $29.7 million | 6th of 96 |
| Poultry and eggs | $25.3 million | 55th of 116 |
| Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas | $22.0 million | 7th of 118 |
| Hay and other crops | $20.2 million | 13th of 141 |
| Cattle and calves | $5.9 million | 12th of 131 |
| Fruit, tree nuts and berries | $3.3 million | 27th of 120 |
| Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys | $53,000 | 49th of 90 |
What the fields held
Brooks County harvested 102,654 acres of cropland in 2022, fifth of 153 counties in Georgia. Cotton covered acreage equal to 49% of that, peanuts 17%.
| Crop | Acres | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Cotton | 50,389 | 0.65% |
| Peanuts | 17,250 | 1.2% |
| Soybeans | 13,257 | under 0.1% |
| Corn for silage | 5,214 | 0.09% |
| Corn for grain | 4,869 | under 0.1% |
| Vegetables | 4,010 | 0.09% |
| Hay and haylage | 3,485 | under 0.1% |
| Orchard land | 2,804 | under 0.1% |
| of which citrus | 28 | under 0.1% |
| of which pecans | 2,427 | 0.40% |
| Wheat | 1,652 | under 0.1% |
| Tobacco | 320 | 0.15% |
Withheld to protect individual farms: grain sorghum, oats, sunflower, grapes and berries.
How much of the county is farmland
Share of the county land in farms65.6%
Brooks County ranks fifth of 155 counties in Georgia on this measure.
- 120,278 acres of cropland, 58% of farmland
- 13,505 acres of pastureland, 7% of farmland
- 67,909 acres of woodland, 33% of farmland
- 24,739 acres irrigated
Farm sizes
Farms in Brooks County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 114 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 528 acres, 16th-largest of 132 in Georgia. The most common size class is 50–179 acres, with 29.8% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 14.5% of the total.
Barns, pens and pastures
| Animals | Head | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Milk cows | 7,007 | 0.08% |
| Broilers sold in 2022 | 1,750,510 | under 0.1% |
| Horses and ponies | 452 | under 0.1% |
| Cattle and calves | 13,163 | under 0.1% |
| Goats | 348 | under 0.1% |
| Beef cows | 3,259 | under 0.1% |
| Sheep and lambs | 91 | under 0.1% |
| Laying hens | 989 | under 0.1% |
| Turkeys | 8 | under 0.1% |
Withheld: hogs and pigs.
Who farms here
Decisions on Brooks County's 392 farms are made by 686 producers. Their average age is 60.4, 1.4 years above the Georgia average. Women are 36.7% of them.
Five years earlier
| Measure | 2017 | Change to 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Farms | 360 | +8.9% |
| Land in farms, acres | 178,480 | +16.1% |
| Average farm size, acres | 496 | +6.5% |
| Farm products sold (current dollars) | $119 million | +62.4% |
| Peanuts, acres | 15,195 | +13.5% |
| Cotton, acres | 37,756 | +33.5% |
| Tobacco, acres | 1,104 | −71.0% |
| Vegetables, acres | 4,674 | −14.2% |
Nearest rivals
- Peanuts between Dale County, AL and Geneva County, AL
- Cotton between Colquitt County, GA and Kings County, CA
- Pecans between Hamilton County, TX and Okfuskee County, OK
- Tobacco between Davidson County, NC and Dickson County, TN
Counties with a similar sales mix
- Burke County, Georgia largest group: milk; mix match 85%
- Thomas County, Georgia largest group: cotton; mix match 85%
- Calhoun County, South Carolina largest group: cotton; mix match 77%
Brooks County accounts for 1.5% of farm sales in Georgia and 1.0% of the farms in Georgia. Rank Georgia counties for peanuts.
Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.