Farm Census

Sampson County, North Carolina

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

882 farms292,205 acres in farms$2.19 billion in farm sales

Sampson County ranks fourth of 2,953 US counties for sales of livestock, poultry and their products in 2022.

Among counties with published figures, it also ranks second for hogs and pigs and tobacco and third for turkeys and sales of poultry and eggs.

Within North Carolina, no other county with a published figure has more land in farms or vegetables.

Its number of broilers sold grew between 2017 and 2022, the largest increase among the 100 leading broiler counties of 2017 with figures in both years.

Hogs and pigs: 44.0%Hogs and pigs44.0%Poultry and eggs: 43.2%Poultry and eggs43.2%Vegetables and melons: 5.8%5.8%Grains and oilseeds: 3.2%3.2%Tobacco: 1.5%1.5%Withheld groups: 0.7%0.7%Cotton: 0.5%Hay and other crops: 0.3%Nursery and greenhouse: 0.3%Fruit and nuts: 0.3%Other animals: under 0.1%Sheep and goats: under 0.1%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Hogs and pigs: 44.0%Hogs and pigs44.0%Poultry and eggs: 43.2%Poultry and eggs43.2%Vegetables and melons: 5.8%5.8%Grains and oilseeds: 3.2%3.2%Tobacco: 1.5%Withheld groups: 0.7%Cotton: 0.5%Hay and other crops: 0.3%Nursery and greenhouse: 0.3%Fruit and nuts: 0.3%Other animals: under 0.1%Sheep and goats: under 0.1%Horses and mules: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: cattle and calves, milk and aquaculture products.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Hogs and pigs$966 million1st of 61
Poultry and eggs$949 million1st of 78
Vegetables, melons and potatoes$128 million1st of 78
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$70.4 million6th of 91
Tobacco$33.3 million4th of 44
Cotton and cottonseed$12.0 million11th of 33
Hay and other crops$7.1 million10th of 85
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$6.7 million22nd of 73
Fruit, tree nuts and berries$6.4 million5th of 76
Other animals and animal products$170,00011th of 61
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$73,00032nd of 68
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$63,00034th of 53

What the fields held

Sampson County harvested 175,011 acres of cropland in 2022, second of 97 counties in North Carolina. Soybeans covered acreage equal to 37% of that, corn for grain 19%.

CropAcresShare of US
Soybeans64,7700.08%
Corn for grain32,793under 0.1%
Vegetables24,8740.58%
Hay and haylage18,703under 0.1%
Cotton14,2320.18%
Wheat13,962under 0.1%
Tobacco8,0433.9%
Peanuts3,4240.24%
Berries7580.21%
Oats5790.06%
Orchard land334under 0.1%
of which grapes134under 0.1%
Grain sorghum194under 0.1%

Withheld to protect individual farms: corn for silage, barley, potatoes, apples and pecans.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms48.3%

Sampson County ranks 11th of 97 counties in North Carolina on this measure.

  • 200,922 acres of cropland, 69% of farmland
  • 17,332 acres of pastureland, 6% of farmland
  • 53,282 acres of woodland, 18% of farmland
  • 11,658 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

Farms in Sampson County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 84 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 331 acres, 24th-largest of 88 in North Carolina. The most common size class is 50–179 acres, with 32.3% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 7.6% of the total.

1–97%10–4930%50–17932%180–49914%500–9999%1,000–1,9995%2,000+3%
Sampson County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Turkeys3,290,3503.4%
Hogs and pigs1,854,2022.5%
Broilers sold in 202285,064,8710.93%
Laying hens456,0070.12%
Goats689under 0.1%
Cattle and calves19,010under 0.1%
Horses and ponies371under 0.1%
Sheep and lambs215under 0.1%

Withheld: beef cows and milk cows.

Who farms here

Decisions on Sampson County's 882 farms are made by 1,437 producers. Their average age is 57.1, 1.0 years below the North Carolina average. Women are 27.5% of them.

Under 3511%35–4412%45–5417%55–6424%65–7423%75+14%
Sampson County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms960−8.1%
Land in farms, acres301,248−3.0%
Average farm size, acres314+5.4%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$1.25 billion+75.6%
Tobacco, acres10,445−23.0%
Turkeys, head4,594,777−28.4%
Hogs and pigs, head1,884,585−1.6%
Broilers sold, head34,654,039+100%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Sampson County accounts for 11.7% of farm sales in North Carolina and 2.1% of the farms in North Carolina. Rank North Carolina counties for tobacco.

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