Farm Census

Nueces County, Texas

Farms, crops and livestock in the 2022 Census of Agriculture

549 farms530,663 acres in farms$140 million in farm sales

Among US counties with published figures, Nueces County leads the country in grain sorghum and ranks third for cotton.

Its largest product group with a published figure, cotton, makes up 47.5% of farm sales, against 4.4% across Texas.

Cotton: 47.5%Cotton47.5%Grains and oilseeds: 47.1%Grains and oilseeds47.1%Cattle and calves: 2.1%2.1%Aquaculture: 1.6%1.6%Hay and other crops: 0.9%0.9%Withheld groups: 0.7%0.7%Hogs and pigs: 0.1%Poultry and eggs: under 0.1%Horses and mules: under 0.1%Cotton: 47.5%Cotton47.5%Grains and oilseeds: 47.1%Grains and oilseeds47.1%Cattle and calves: 2.1%Aquaculture: 1.6%Hay and other crops: 0.9%Withheld groups: 0.7%Hogs and pigs: 0.1%Poultry and eggs: under 0.1%Horses and mules: under 0.1%
Farm sales by product group, 2022, sized by value. Withheld to protect individual farms: vegetables and melons, fruit and nuts, nursery and greenhouse crops, sheep and goat products and other animal products.
Sales by product group
Product groupSalesRank in state
Cotton and cottonseed$66.5 million1st of 116
Grains, oilseeds, dry beans and dry peas$65.9 million11th of 173
Cattle and calves$3.0 million212th of 230
Aquaculture$2.2 million5th of 14
Hay and other crops$1.2 million143rd of 213
Hogs and pigs$172,00010th of 103
Poultry and eggs$64,000110th of 168
Horses, ponies, mules, burros and donkeys$58,000185th of 207

What the fields held

Nueces County harvested 281,736 acres of cropland in 2022, first of 220 counties in Texas. Grain sorghum covered acreage equal to 38% of that, cotton 37%.

CropAcresShare of US
Grain sorghum106,2332.3%
Cotton103,6641.3%
Corn for grain57,8700.07%
Hay and haylage5,217under 0.1%
Wheat4,646under 0.1%

Withheld to protect individual farms: corn for silage, oats, sunflower, vegetables and orchard land.

How much of the county is farmland

Share of the county land in farms98.9%

Nueces County ranks 46th of 250 counties in Texas on this measure.

  • 383,446 acres of cropland, 72% of farmland
  • 123,718 acres of pastureland, 23% of farmland
  • 21,984 acres of woodland, 4% of farmland
  • 988 acres irrigated

Farm sizes

The typical farm in Nueces County is smaller than the national median of 72 acres, at 37 acres. The average, pulled up by the largest operations, is 967 acres, 87th-largest of 242 in Texas. The most common size class is 10–49 acres, with 38.4% of farms. Farms of 1,000 acres or more are 16.6% of the total.

1–916%10–4938%50–17918%180–4997%500–9994%1,000–1,9996%2,000+11%
Nueces County US · farms by size

Barns, pens and pastures

AnimalsHeadShare of US
Horses and ponies432under 0.1%
Goats423under 0.1%
Beef cows4,246under 0.1%
Cattle and calves6,983under 0.1%
Sheep and lambs82under 0.1%
Hogs and pigs331under 0.1%
Turkeys385under 0.1%
Laying hens1,200under 0.1%

Who farms here

Decisions on Nueces County's 549 farms are made by 1,011 producers. Their average age is 60.6, 0.7 years above the Texas average. Women are 31.5% of them.

Under 354%35–449%45–5418%55–6427%65–7424%75+17%
Nueces County US · producers by age

Five years earlier

Measure2017Change to 2022
Farms646−15.0%
Land in farms, acres474,868+11.7%
Average farm size, acres735+31.6%
Farm products sold (current dollars)$161 million−13.1%
Grain sorghum, acres142,457−25.4%
Cotton, acres128,293−19.2%
Corn for grain, acres24,820+100%
Horses and ponies, head806−46.4%

Nearest rivals

Counties with a similar sales mix

Nueces County accounts for 0.4% of farm sales in Texas and 0.2% of the farms in Texas. Rank Texas counties for grain sorghum.

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