A Striking Shift in the Number of U.S. Farms.

The latest Census of Agriculture reveals a striking shift in U.S. farming over the past decade. In 2022, the nation had 1.9 million farms—down by 10 percent from 2012, when there were over 2.1 million. That’s a loss of 208,816 farms in just ten years.

This decline affected nearly all farm size categories, but smaller farms were hit hardest. Operations with annual revenue under $10,000 saw the steepest drop, losing more than 151,000 farms—down 13 percent since 2012. Meanwhile, medium-sized farms with revenues between $10,000 and $249,999 shrank by nine percent, a loss of 66,600 farms. Even larger operations earning $250,000 to $999,999 weren’t spared, decreasing by over 16,800 farms—down 10 percent.

The Census did reveal one growth area: the number of large-scale farms with revenues of $1 million or more surged by 32 percent.