Farm Census

Stearns County, Minnesota

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

2,695 farms643,463 acres in farms$1.02 billion in farm sales

Among US counties with published figures, Stearns County ranks fourth for oats.

Within Minnesota, no other county with a published figure has more farms, corn for silage, hay and haylage, cattle and calves or milk cows, or sells more farm products.

Milk: 29.7%Milk29.7%Grains and oilseeds: 26.7%Grains and oilseeds26.7%Poultry and eggs: 23.2%Poultry and eggs23.2%Cattle and calves: 13.3%Cattle and calves13.3%Hay and other crops: 3.1%3.1%Hogs and pigs: 2.4%2.4%Nursery and greenhouse: 0.5%Other animals: 0.5%Vegetables and melons: 0.4%0.4%Fruit and nuts: 0.1%Sheep and goats: 0.1%Christmas trees: under 0.1%Milk: 29.7%Milk29.7%Grains and oilseeds: 26.7%26.7%Poultry and eggs: 23.2%Poultry and eggs23.2%Cattle and calves: 13.3%Cattle and calves13.3%Hay and other crops: 3.1%3.1%Hogs and pigs: 2.4%2.4%Nursery and greenhouse: 0.5%Other animals: 0.5%Vegetables and melons: 0.4%Fruit and nuts: 0.1%Sheep and goats: 0.1%Christmas trees: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: horses and mules and aquaculture products.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Milk from cows$303 million1st of 56
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$273 million23rd of 83
Poultry and eggs$237 million2nd of 49
Cattle and calves$136 million3rd of 79
Hay and other crops$31.2 million8th of 78
Hogs and pigs$24.6 million34th of 69
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$5.4 million13th of 51
Other animals and animal products$4.7 million2nd of 58
Vegetables, melons and potatoes$4.1 million25th of 62
Fruit, tree nuts and berries$1.1 million11th of 44
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$1.0 million9th of 63
Christmas trees and short-rotation woody crops$2,00024th of 24

What the fields held

Stearns County harvested 458,204 acres of cropland in 2022, seventh of 87 counties in Minnesota. Corn for grain covered acreage equal to 40% of that, soybeans 25%.

CropAcresShare of US
Corn for grain183,7370.23%
Soybeans113,3870.13%
Hay and haylage90,3050.17%
Corn for silage34,1450.57%
Oats11,4521.3%
Sugar beets10,2940.89%
Vegetables3,5030.08%
of which potatoes73under 0.1%
Dry edible beans3,2150.26%
Wheat2,568under 0.1%
Barley954under 0.1%
Orchard land103under 0.1%
of which grapes13under 0.1%
of which apples65under 0.1%
Berries26under 0.1%

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms74.9%

Stearns County ranks 42nd of 87 counties in Minnesota on this measure.

  • 512,194 acres of cropland, 80% of farmland
  • 51,222 acres of pastureland, 8% of farmland
  • 43,154 acres of woodland, 7% of farmland
  • 58,778 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

Farms in Stearns County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 118 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 239 acres, 65th-largest of 84 in Minnesota. The most common size class is 50–179 acres, with 31.3% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 3.4% of the total.

1–95%10–4926%50–17931%180–49927%500–9997%1,000–1,9992%2,000+1%
Stearns County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Turkeys1,796,1511.8%
Milk cows57,8900.62%
Laying hens897,8190.23%
Cattle and calves187,1760.21%
Broilers sold in 202211,989,3490.13%
Hogs and pigs65,8970.09%
Sheep and lambs3,6650.07%
Goats1,4880.06%
Horses and ponies1,3670.06%
Beef cows16,1010.06%

Who farms here

Decisions on Stearns County's 2,695 farms are made by 4,732 producers. Their average age is 56.3, 0.8 years below the Minnesota average. Women are 32.1% of them.

Under 359%35–4414%45–5416%55–6429%65–7420%75+10%
Stearns County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms2,951−8.7%
Land in farms, acres650,821−1.1%
Average farm size, acres221+8.1%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$748 million+36.6%
Turkeys, head2,734,124−34.3%
Oats, acres11,100+3.2%
Sugar beets, acres3,140+100%
Milk cows, head66,524−13.0%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Stearns County accounts for 3.6% of farm sales in Minnesota and 4.1% of the farms in Minnesota. Rank Minnesota counties for turkeys.

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