Castro County, Texas
Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture
415 farms570,818 acres in farms$1.84 billion in farm sales
Castro County ranks ninth of 2,953 US counties for sales of livestock, poultry and their products in 2022.
Among counties with published figures, it also ranks fourth for cattle and calves.
Its number of milk cows grew between 2017 and 2022, the second-largest increase among the 99 leading milk cow counties of 2017 with figures in both years.
Sales by product group
| Product group | Sales | Rank in state |
|---|---|---|
| Cattle and calves | $1.36 billion | 2nd of 230 |
| Milk from cows | $383 million | 2nd of 26 |
| Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas | $73.2 million | 9th of 173 |
| Cotton and cottonseed | $14.7 million | 34th of 116 |
| Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys | $1.2 million | 47th of 207 |
| Other animals and animal products | $357,000 | 72nd of 161 |
| Sheep, goats, wool, mohair and goat milk | $114,000 | 131st of 201 |
What the fields held
Castro County harvested 197,604 acres of cropland in 2022, ninth of 220 counties in Texas. Hay and haylage covered acreage equal to 31% of that, corn for silage 20%.
| Crop | Acres | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Hay and haylage | 61,669 | 0.11% |
| Corn for silage | 39,924 | 0.67% |
| Wheat | 26,279 | 0.07% |
| Cotton | 24,231 | 0.31% |
| Grain sorghum | 22,530 | 0.48% |
| Corn for grain | 13,793 | under 0.1% |
| Barley | 3,000 | 0.12% |
Withheld to protect individual farms: soybeans and vegetables.
How much of the county is farmland
Share of the county land in farms99.7%
Castro County ranks 34th of 250 counties in Texas on this measure.
- 390,367 acres of cropland, 68% of farmland
- 188,754 acres of pastureland, 33% of farmland
- 121,782 acres irrigated
Farm sizes
Farms in Castro County run larger than the national pattern: the median farm has 693 acres against 72 for the US. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 1,375 acres, 64th-largest of 242 in Texas. The most common size class is 500–999 acres, with 24.1% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 35.9% of the total.
Barns, pens and pastures
| Animals | Head | Share of US |
|---|---|---|
| Milk cows | 68,107 | 0.73% |
| Cattle and calves | 582,951 | 0.66% |
| Beef cows | 13,927 | under 0.1% |
| Horses and ponies | 535 | under 0.1% |
| Goats | 328 | under 0.1% |
| Sheep and lambs | 553 | under 0.1% |
| Hogs and pigs | 1,167 | under 0.1% |
| Laying hens | 155 | under 0.1% |
| Turkeys | 3 | under 0.1% |
Who farms here
Decisions on Castro County's 415 farms are made by 765 producers. Their average age is 55.9, 4.0 years below the Texas average. Women are 30.7% of them.
Five years earlier
| Measure | 2017 | Change to 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Farms | 411 | +1.0% |
| Land in farms, acres | 554,807 | +2.9% |
| Average farm size, acres | 1,350 | +1.9% |
| Farm products sold (current dollars) | $1.12 billion | +64.0% |
| Milk cows, head | 44,257 | +53.9% |
| Corn for silage, acres | 20,135 | +98.3% |
| Cattle and calves, head | 466,891 | +24.9% |
| Grain sorghum, acres | 9,714 | +100% |
Nearest rivals
- Milk cows between Cassia County, ID and Clark County, WI
- Corn for silage between Clark County, WI and Marathon County, WI
- Cattle and calves between Merced County, CA and Weld County, CO
- Grain sorghum between Logan County, KS and Beaver County, OK
Counties with a similar sales mix
- Deaf Smith County, Texas largest group: cattle and calves; mix match 99%
- Washington County, Virginia largest group: cattle and calves; mix match 99%
- Douglas County, Missouri largest group: cattle and calves; mix match 99%
Castro County accounts for 5.7% of farm sales in Texas and 0.2% of the farms in Texas. Rank Texas counties for milk cows.
Source: USDA NASS Census of Agriculture. How to read these pages.