Charles Mix County, South Dakota
Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture
677 farms654,941 acres in farms$364 million in farm sales
No other county in South Dakota with a published figure has more hogs and pigs than Charles Mix County.
Its number of cattle and calves shrank between 2017 and 2022, the steepest decline among the 100 leading cattle counties of 2017 with figures in both years.
Sales by product group
| Product group | Sales | Rank in state |
|---|---|---|
| Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas | $182 million | 12th of 64 |
| Cattle and calves | $82.8 million | 5th of 63 |
| Hogs and pigs | $75.8 million | 1st of 34 |
| Poultry and eggs | $9.0 million | 3rd of 33 |
| Hay and other crops | $7.0 million | 6th of 49 |
| Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk | $592,000 | 14th of 47 |
| Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys | $272,000 | 17th of 47 |
What the fields held
Charles Mix County harvested 392,480 acres of cropland in 2022, seventh of 66 counties in South Dakota. Soybeans covered acreage equal to 40% of that, corn for grain 36%.
| Crop | Acres | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Soybeans | 155,037 | 0.18% |
| Corn for grain | 142,260 | 0.18% |
| Hay and haylage | 44,604 | 0.08% |
| Wheat | 32,677 | 0.09% |
| Corn for silage | 6,962 | 0.12% |
| Grain sorghum | 4,827 | 0.10% |
| Sunflower | 3,808 | 0.24% |
| Oats | 1,310 | 0.14% |
| Barley | 208 | under 0.1% |
| Vegetables | 131 | under 0.1% |
| of which potatoes | 28 | under 0.1% |
Withheld to protect individual farms: berries.
How much of the county is farmland
Share of the county land in farms93.2%
Charles Mix County ranks 23rd of 66 counties in South Dakota on this measure.
- 448,365 acres of cropland, 68% of farmland
- 185,551 acres of pastureland, 28% of farmland
- 5,376 acres of woodland, 1% of farmland
- 5,728 acres irrigated
Farm sizes
Farms in Charles Mix County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 320 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 967 acres, 38th-largest of 65 in South Dakota. The most common size class is 50–179 acres, with 25.0% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 29.4% of the total.
Barns, pens and pastures
| Animals | Head | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Hogs and pigs | 174,817 | 0.24% |
| Beef cows | 32,204 | 0.11% |
| Cattle and calves | 77,246 | 0.09% |
| Turkeys | 77,012 | 0.08% |
| Sheep and lambs | 2,547 | under 0.1% |
| Horses and ponies | 902 | under 0.1% |
| Milk cows | 300 | under 0.1% |
| Laying hens | 759 | under 0.1% |
Withheld: broilers sold and goats.
Who farms here
Decisions on Charles Mix County's 677 farms are made by 1,237 producers. Their average age is 58.1, 0.9 years above the South Dakota average. Women are 27.0% of them.
Five years earlier
| Measure | 2017 | Change to 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Farms | 671 | +0.9% |
| Land in farms, acres | 685,988 | −4.5% |
| Average farm size, acres | 1,022 | −5.4% |
| Farm products sold (current dollars) | $262 million | +38.8% |
| Sunflower, acres | 2,897 | +31.4% |
| Hogs and pigs, head | 96,226 | +81.7% |
| Soybeans, acres | 147,560 | +5.1% |
| Corn for grain, acres | 118,035 | +20.5% |
Nearest rivals
- Sunflower between Wilkin County, MN and Lincoln County, CO
- Hogs and pigs between Adams County, IN and Wabash County, IN
- Soybeans between Knox County, IL and Saint Francis County, AR
- Corn for grain between Chickasaw County, IA and Lyon County, IA
Counties with a similar sales mix
- Mitchell County, Iowa largest group: grains and oilseeds; mix match 99%
- Hutchinson County, South Dakota largest group: grains and oilseeds; mix match 99%
- Geary County, Kansas largest group: grains and oilseeds; mix match 99%
Charles Mix County accounts for 2.8% of farm sales in South Dakota and 2.4% of the farms in South Dakota. Rank South Dakota counties for sunflower.
Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.