The number of farms in the United States for 2017 is estimated at 2.05 million, down 12,000 farms from 2016, according the recently released Farms and Land In Farms survey, published by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Total land in farms, at 910 million acres, decreased 1 million acres from 2016. The average farm size for 2017 is 444 acres, up 2 acres from the previous year.
Six economic sales classes differentiate farm numbers and the amount of land in farms. Farms and ranches are classified into these six sales classes by summing the sales of agricultural products and government program payments. Sales class breaks occur at $10,000, $100,000, $250,000, $500,000 and $1 million. Producers were asked during the 2017 mid-year surveys to report the value of sales based on production during the 2016 calendar year.
Point Farms are farms that did not have the required minimum $1,000 in sales for the year to qualify as a farm, but had sufficient crops and livestock to normally have sales of $1,000 or more. Point Farms are assigned a sales class based on the sum of the agricultural point (dollar) values assigned to the quantity of commodities produced but not sold.
The 2012 Census of Agriculture showed that 428,810 farms or 20.3 percent of the 2.11 million farms were Point Farms. These Point Farms operated 63 million acres or 6.9 percent of the 914.5 million acres of farmland.
The number of farms declined by 12,000 from 2016. The number of farms in Sales Classes $100,000 to $249,999 and $1 million or more increased while all other sales classes declined. Fifty percent of all farms had less than $10,000 in sales. Eighty percent of all farms had less than $100,000 in sales. Eight percent of all farms had sales of $500,000 or more.
Changes in the number of farms by sales class include:
- Sales Class $1,000 to $9,999 at 1.02 million farms, declined by 9,000 farms;
- Sales Class $10,000 to $99,999 at 618,000 farms, declined by 3,000 farms;
- Sales Class $100,000 to $249,999 at 145,000 farms, increased by 200 farms;
- Sales Class $250,000 to $499,999 at 98,000 farms, declined by 400 farms;
- Sales Class $500,000 to $999,999 at 82,000 farms, declined by 300 farms; and
- Sales Class $1 million or more at 83,000 farms, increased by 400 farms.
The percent of all farms by sales class are as follows:
- Sales Class $1,000 to $9,999: 49.9 percent;
- Sales Class $10,000 to $99,999: 30.2 percent;
- Sales Class $100,000 to $249,999: 7.1 percent;
- Sales Class $250,000 to $499,999: 4.8 percent;
- Sales Class $500,000 to $999,999: 4 percent; and
- Sales Class $1 million or more: 4 percent.
Land in farms, at 910 million acres, was down 1 million acres from 2016. The biggest change for 2017 is that producers in Sales Class $1 million or more operated 1.3 million more acres than in 2016. Similar to the previous year, in 2017 over 30 percent of all farmland was operated by farms with less than $100,000 in sales. Farms with sales of $500,000 or more operated Forty-one percent of all farmland.
Farmland changes by sales class are as follows:
- Sales Class $1,000 to $9,999 at 86 million acres, declined by 930,000 acres;
- Sales Class $10,000 to $99,999 at 191.3 million acres, declined by 720,000 acres;
- Sales Class $100,000 to $249,999 at 129.3 million acres, declined by 590,000 acres;
- Sales Class $250,000 to $499,999 at 127 million acres, declined by 140,000 acres;
- Sales Class $500,000 to $999,999 at 156.5 million acres, increased by 40,000 acres; and
- Sales Class $1 million or more at 220 million acres, increased by 1.3 million acres.
Farms and Land in Farms 2017 Summary (February 2018)
Percent of all farmland by sales class are as follows:
- Sales Class $1,000 to $9,999: 9.5 percent;
- Sales Class $10,000 to $99,999: 21 percent;
- Sales Class $100,000 to $249,999: 14.2 percent;
- Sales Class $250,000 to $499,999: 14 percent;
- Sales Class $500,000 to $999,999: 17.2 percent; and
- Sales Class $1 million or more: 24.2 percent.
The average farm size continued to increase in 2017 as the number of farms declined more than land in farms. The overall average size increased by 2 acres to 444 acres per farm. Average farm sizes increased in the $250,000 to $499,999, $500,000 to $999,999, and $1 million or more sales classes and decreased or remained unchanged in the others.
Average farm size by sales class include:
- Sales Class $1,000 to $9,999: 84 acres;
- Sales Class $10,000 to $99,999: 309 acres;
- Sales Class $100,000 to $249,999: 891 acres;
- Sales Class $250,000 to $499,999: 1,299 acres;
- Sales Class $500,000 to $999,999: 1,904 acres; and
- Sales Class $1 million or more: 2,660 acres.
Larry Dreiling can be reached at 785-628-1117 or [email protected].
