Farm Census

Morton County, North Dakota

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

688 farms1,228,831 acres in farms$255 million in farm sales

Among US counties with published figures, Morton County ranks sixth for sunflower, seventh for oats and ninth for hay and haylage.

Within North Dakota, no other county with a published figure has more cattle and calves or beef cows, or sells more farm products.

Grains and oilseeds: 54.5%Grains and oilseeds54.5%Cattle and calves: 36.9%Cattle and calves36.9%Milk: 3.3%Milk3.3%Hay and other crops: 3.3%3.3%Other animals: 1.5%1.5%Horses and mules: 0.2%Sheep and goats: 0.1%Nursery and greenhouse: under 0.1%Grains and oilseeds: 54.5%Grains and oilseeds54.5%Cattle and calves: 36.9%Cattle and calves36.9%Milk: 3.3%3.3%Hay and other crops: 3.3%3.3%Other animals: 1.5%1.5%Horses and mules: 0.2%Sheep and goats: 0.1%Nursery and greenhouse: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: vegetables and melons, fruit and nuts, hogs and pigs and poultry and eggs.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$139 million28th of 53
Cattle and calves$94.3 million1st of 49
Milk from cows$8.4 million3rd of 6
Hay and other crops$8.4 million10th of 36
Other animals and animal products$3.8 million8th of 31
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$638,0005th of 34
Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk$337,0007th of 30
Nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crops$74,0004th of 4

What the fields held

Morton County harvested 483,119 acres of cropland in 2022, 16th of 53 counties in North Dakota. Wheat covered acreage equal to 32% of that, hay and haylage 29%.

CropAcresShare of US
Wheat155,3790.42%
Hay and haylage139,6950.26%
Soybeans50,5290.06%
Corn for grain46,1540.06%
Sunflower43,5702.7%
Barley12,2540.50%
Corn for silage12,0230.20%
Oats9,2081.0%
Canola7,5800.35%
Vegetables15under 0.1%

Withheld to protect individual farms: potatoes, orchard land, apples, grapes and berries.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms99.7%

Morton County ranks second of 53 counties in North Dakota on this measure.

  • 563,055 acres of cropland, 46% of farmland
  • 648,979 acres of pastureland, 53% of farmland
  • 10,087 acres of woodland, 1% of farmland
  • 5,529 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

Farms in Morton County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 637 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 1,786 acres, 16th-largest of 53 in North Dakota. The most common size class is 2,000+ acres, with 29.2% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 41.0% of the total.

1–93%10–499%50–17916%180–49916%500–99915%1,000–1,99912%2,000+29%
Morton County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Beef cows52,5670.18%
Cattle and calves116,8220.13%
Horses and ponies1,2660.05%
Sheep and lambs2,6770.05%
Milk cows1,358under 0.1%
Goats343under 0.1%
Turkeys6under 0.1%
Broilers sold in 2022120under 0.1%

Withheld: hogs and pigs and laying hens.

Who farms here

Decisions on Morton County's 688 farms are made by 1,239 producers. Their average age is 55.4, 1.4 years below the North Dakota average. Women are 32.8% of them.

Under 3513%35–4414%45–5415%55–6428%65–7422%75+9%
Morton County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms781−11.9%
Land in farms, acres1,225,934+0.2%
Average farm size, acres1,570+13.8%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$146 million+74.9%
Sunflower, acres28,430+53.3%
Oats, acres3,067+100%
Barley, acres8,050+52.2%
Wheat, acres176,799−12.1%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Morton County accounts for 2.1% of farm sales in North Dakota and 2.7% of the farms in North Dakota. Rank North Dakota counties for sunflower.

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