The United States had 1,900,487 farms in 2022, 141,733 fewer than in 2017, a drop of 6.9%. Land in farms fell by a smaller 2.2%, to 880,100,848 acres, so the average farm grew. The decline was broad but not universal: of 3,029 counties with a farm count in both censuses, 2,217 lost farms and 803 gained.
State by state
Every state except Iowa, Maryland, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Alaska recorded fewer farms in 2022. The largest proportional drop was in New Mexico, at 16.2%. Each state page on this site shows its own 2017 figures next to the 2022 ones, for farms, land, average size and sales.
Counties where the count rose most
To keep tiny counties from dominating, these lists only include the 1,675 counties that had at least 500 farms in 2017. Six of the ten largest gains are in Texas, including Lubbock County and its neighbor Hockley County.
| County | Farms, 2017 | Farms, 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hockley County, TX | 661 | 897 | +35.7% |
| Bannock County, ID | 757 | 1,005 | +32.8% |
| Putnam County, WV | 514 | 648 | +26.1% |
| Runnels County, TX | 833 | 1,039 | +24.7% |
| Lubbock County, TX | 1,033 | 1,286 | +24.5% |
| Gaines County, TX | 507 | 624 | +23.1% |
| Scurry County, TX | 560 | 685 | +22.3% |
| Summit County, UT | 626 | 760 | +21.4% |
| Oregon County, MO | 564 | 678 | +20.2% |
| Terry County, TX | 558 | 669 | +19.9% |
Counties where it fell most
The steepest drops are mostly in Western states. Glacier County, MT lost the largest share of its farms, falling from 637 to 361.
| County | Farms, 2017 | Farms, 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Glacier County, MT | 637 | 361 | −43.3% |
| Val Verde County, TX | 528 | 333 | −36.9% |
| Bonner County, ID | 1,213 | 798 | −34.2% |
| Fremont County, CO | 1,034 | 681 | −34.1% |
| San Miguel County, NM | 1,170 | 776 | −33.7% |
| Salt Lake County, UT | 592 | 393 | −33.6% |
| Owen County, IN | 649 | 435 | −33.0% |
| Kauai County, HI | 773 | 524 | −32.2% |
| Eddy County, NM | 507 | 346 | −31.8% |
| Socorro County, NM | 658 | 453 | −31.2% |
Why the count moves
The census counts a place as a farm if it sold, or normally would have sold, at least $1,000 of agricultural products in the year. Small places near that threshold can enter or leave the count with a change in what they sell, so a county with many small farms can see large swings without much change in the land being farmed. For that reason this site reports county changes in farm numbers as measured, without assigning a cause, and puts land in farms next to them on every profile.
Which farms disappeared
The national loss was spread across all size classes, but not evenly. Farms under 50 acres account for 54,822 of the 141,733 fewer farms, 38.7% of the decline. The steepest proportional fall was among farms of 1 to 9 acres (−14.2%), the mildest among farms of 2,000 acres or more (−2.1%). Because small farms dropped out faster than large ones, the average farm size went up even where little land changed hands. How big is a US farm? shows the full table of size classes for both censuses.
Where gains were common
Counties that gained farms cluster in a few states. Among states with at least ten counties, New Jersey had the highest share of counties with more farms in 2022 than in 2017, 58% of 19, followed by Iowa (55%) and Maryland (52%). At the other end, in Washington only 5% of counties gained. A state can lose farms overall while many of its counties gain, if the losses are concentrated in a few counties with many small farms.
Land in farms moved less
Land changes more slowly than farm numbers. Of the 3,026 counties with land in farms in both censuses, 1,206 reported more farmland in 2022 than in 2017. Among the 2,081 counties with at least 100,000 acres in farms in 2017, the largest proportional gains were in El Paso County, TX (+88.9%) and Humphreys County, TN (+71.4%), and the largest losses in Greeley County, NE (−54.2%) and Bandera County, TX (−52.5%).
Harvested cropland, which in the census also includes orchards, vineyards, berries and nurseries, changed by −5.8% nationally. Land in farms, farm numbers, average size and sales appear in the change table of every county profile, next to the county's main crops and animals.
Five-year snapshots
The Census of Agriculture is taken every five years, for years ending in 2 and 7, so each county has one farm count per census. Year-to-year movements between 2017 and 2022 are not visible in these figures; the change columns on this site always compare the two census years directly, using the same definitions, and the next comparison will come with the census for 2027.
Farms, land and sales together
Nationally, farm sales rose from $388.52 billion in 2017 to $543.09 billion in 2022 in current dollars, +39.8%, while farm numbers fell. The two measures say different things: sales depend heavily on prices in the census year, which are not adjusted for inflation here, while the farm count describes how many operations there are. County profiles show all of these in the "Five years earlier" table, and the top-counties explorer ranks counties by what they grow or raise in 2022.
Sources
USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, 2022 Census of Agriculture and 2017 Census of Agriculture, county, state and national data (bulk files at www.nass.usda.gov/datasets/). Tables and charts computed by Farm Census.