In 2022, farms in the U.S. numbered 1,900,487, down from 2,109,303 in 2012, according to data from the 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture released in February 2024. That represented a 10% (208,816 farms) decline from 2012-22.
The Census of Agriculture is a complete count of U.S. farms conducted every 5 years by USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service. As such, it provides a picture of how different-sized farms, categorized by economic class, changed. In looking at the last two five-year survey periods, the number of farms decreased in all four farm size categories from 2012-17, represented by the red part of bars in the chart.
From 2017-22 (represented by gray part of bars), there was an overall decrease in the number of farms, with a drop in the smallest three economic class categories and an increase in the number of farms with annual revenue of $1 million or more.
Farms with annual revenue of less than $10,000 dropped the largest in number within the decade, declining by 151,611 farms, or 13%. On the other hand, large farms of $1 million or more in revenue increased by 32%, that is, from 81,660 farms in 2012 to 107,952 farms in 2022.
The number of farms with $10,000-249,999 in revenue declined by 66,666 (a 9% decrease) from 2012-22, and farms with revenue of $250,000-999,999 declined by 16,831 (a 10% decrease).
To explore the 2022 Census of Agriculture, see the Census of Agriculture website, www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus. — USDA Economic Research Service
