Farm Census

Christian County, Kentucky

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

1,095 farms345,270 acres in farms$264 million in farm sales

Among US counties with published figures, Christian County ranks sixth for tobacco.

Within Kentucky, no other county with a published figure has more land in farms or wheat, or sells more farm products.

Grains and oilseeds: 61.2%Grains and oilseeds61.2%Tobacco: 16.7%Tobacco16.7%Poultry and eggs: 7.9%7.9%Cattle and calves: 5.3%5.3%Milk: 4.6%Milk4.6%Nursery and greenhouse: 1.9%1.9%Hay and other crops: 1.1%1.1%Vegetables and melons: 0.9%0.9%Horses and mules: 0.2%Fruit and nuts: 0.1%Other animals: 0.1%Hogs and pigs: 0.1%Sheep and goats: under 0.1%Grains and oilseeds: 61.2%Grains and oilseeds61.2%Tobacco: 16.7%Tobacco16.7%Poultry and eggs: 7.9%7.9%Cattle and calves: 5.3%5.3%Milk: 4.6%Milk4.6%Nursery and greenhouse: 1.9%1.9%Hay and other crops: 1.1%Vegetables and melons: 0.9%Horses and mules: 0.2%Fruit and nuts: 0.1%Other animals: 0.1%Hogs and pigs: 0.1%Sheep and goats: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$161 million3rd of 105
Tobacco$44.2 million1st of 60
Poultry and eggs$20.8 million21st of 100
Cattle and calves$13.9 million25th of 113
Milk from cows$12.0 million5th of 33
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$4.9 million4th of 76
Hay and other crops$2.9 million40th of 115
Vegetables, melons and potatoes$2.5 million4th of 98
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$462,00027th of 95
Fruit, tree nuts and berries$255,00027th of 71
Other animals and animal products$163,00017th of 70
Hogs and pigs$161,00012th of 56
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$113,00043rd of 101

What the fields held

Christian County harvested 205,041 acres of cropland in 2022, second of 116 counties in Kentucky. Soybeans covered acreage equal to 43% of that, corn for grain 39%.

CropAcresShare of US
Soybeans88,4490.10%
Corn for grain80,3010.10%
Wheat61,5980.17%
Hay and haylage14,759under 0.1%
Tobacco6,9243.3%
Corn for silage1,502under 0.1%
Vegetables304under 0.1%
of which potatoes8under 0.1%
Orchard land30under 0.1%
of which grapes3under 0.1%
Berries2under 0.1%

Withheld to protect individual farms: apples.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms75.2%

Christian County ranks 16th of 120 counties in Kentucky on this measure.

  • 261,610 acres of cropland, 76% of farmland
  • 27,057 acres of pastureland, 8% of farmland
  • 45,468 acres of woodland, 13% of farmland
  • 9,287 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

Farms in Christian County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 80 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 315 acres, 11th-largest of 110 in Kentucky. The most common size class is 50–179 acres, with 39.2% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 6.2% of the total.

1–96%10–4931%50–17939%180–49913%500–9995%1,000–1,9992%2,000+4%
Christian County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Horses and ponies1,5860.07%
Laying hens124,469under 0.1%
Broilers sold in 20222,630,426under 0.1%
Milk cows2,485under 0.1%
Cattle and calves21,466under 0.1%
Beef cows6,934under 0.1%
Goats565under 0.1%
Sheep and lambs613under 0.1%
Hogs and pigs314under 0.1%
Turkeys61under 0.1%

Who farms here

Decisions on Christian County's 1,095 farms are made by 1,827 producers. Their average age is 56.4, 0.7 years below the Kentucky average. Women are 33.2% of them.

Under 3512%35–4413%45–5418%55–6421%65–7421%75+14%
Christian County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms1,137−3.7%
Land in farms, acres345,581−0.1%
Average farm size, acres304+3.6%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$205 million+28.5%
Tobacco, acres5,946+16.4%
Wheat, acres64,187−4.0%
Soybeans, acres95,022−6.9%
Corn for grain, acres83,534−3.9%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Christian County accounts for 3.3% of farm sales in Kentucky and 1.6% of the farms in Kentucky. Rank Kentucky counties for tobacco.

Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.