Breaking News: Ag Census Statistics Released
New statistics provide ammunition for those seeking reform in Farm Bill
For Advocates, 2022 USDA Census Statistics Show Need for Change
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s release on Tuesday of the 2022 Census of Agriculture results show that little has changed in the nation’s farming sector since the previous census in 2017.
For advocates of a sustainable, more diverse system that supports the small farmers and resilient local food ecosystems, this is not good news — except in the sense that it provides ammunition in our efforts for reform in the upcoming federal Farm Bill.
Here are some of the key statistics:
Demographics
• The farming population continues to get older. The 2022 Census found that the average age of farmers in the United States rose to 58.1 years. That is up from 57.5 years in 2017, and nearly five years older that the average age of 53.2 in the 2002 Census.
The segment of all farmers who are less than 35 years old ticked up slightly to 9 percent from 8 percent in 2017. But these young farmers are greatly outnumbered by farmer aged 65 or older, whose portion of the farm population increased to 38 percent from 34 percent in 2017.
• Beginning Farmers Increased Slightly: USDA defines beginning farmers as those with 10 years or less of farming experience. Their numbers ticked up slightly to 30 percent from 27 percent in 2017, edging over 1 million in total numbers. States with the highest percentages of beginning farmers tended to be those with small populations, with Rhode Island in first place (41.4 percent of all farmers).
• Life On (and Off) the Farm Ain’t What It Used to Be: If you’re mental image of farming is a bucolic lifestyle of days in the field and evenings rocking on the porch, think again. In numbers almost identical to the 2017 census, the 2022 report showed only 39 percent of producers did no work off the farm; 40 percent worked 200+ days off-farm, while the other 22 percent worked off the farm between 1 and 199 days a year. Additionally, 42 percent of census respondents described farming as their primary occupation, while 58 percent said their primary occupation was other than farming.
• Farming is an Overwhelmingly White Occupation: Virtually unchanged from the 2017 census, the 2022 census found that 95.4 percent of producers are white. Hispanics made up just 3 percent of producers; blacks were 1.2 percent of the total, exceeded by American Indians at 1.7 percent.
Economics
While some of the demographic numbers appear lopsided, it is in the area of economics that the imbalances in our agriculture industry truly stand out.
• Mega-farms, mega-sales: Farms that produce $5 million or more in annual revenue make up just 1 percent of all farms — but they produce 42 percent of all farm sales. One step down, farms with $1 million to nearly $5 million make up 5 percent of all farms but 36 percent of sales.
At the other end of the spectrum are small farms, many of which support our local food infrastructures. Here, farms with less than $50,000 a year in revenue make up 74 percent of all farms but just 2 percent (!) of sales; farms between $50,000 and $249,000 make up 12 percent of total farms but 5 percent of sales.
• Number of Farms Down, Acreage Up: There were 1.9 million farms and ranches (down 7% from 2017) with an average size of 463 acres (up 5%) on 880 million acres of farmland (down 2%).
• Cows and Corn: Nearly three-fourths of farmland was used by farms specializing in two commodity categories: oilseed and grain production (32%) and beef cattle production (40%).
• But Wait… There is Some Good News: In 2022, 116,617 farms sold directly to consumers, with sales of $3.3 billion. Value of sales increased 16% from 2017.
And in that good news is the core of our argument for a Farm Bill that provides greater economic opportunity for smaller farms selling primarily within their own local food ecosystems.
The COVID pandemic proved the hard way that the image of an indestructible conventional food system was a myth. At the height of the crisis, our food supply chains faltered and failed dramatically, which led many consumers to turn to local producers to put food on their table.
In the aftermath, there is considerable evidence that a growing number of consumers — particularly but not exclusively younger eaters — are prioritizing a healthier, more sustainable, more humane, and more localized food system. But we’re not going to get there if the next Farm Bill reflects perpetuation of the status quo represented in the 2022 Census of Agriculture numbers.
It’s time for advocates of a better food system to get busy and speak loudly for change. Have opinions? Please share them in the comments — let’s have a conversation about building a better food system.
The Need for Change, Through One Farmer’s Eyes
A reminder that Local Food Forum has published a two-part series by Ed Dubrick, an Illinois pastured poultry farmer and policy advocate whose views about the need for change in our farm and food system encapsulate the issues in the upcoming Farm Bill debate. Click here to view Part 1 and click here to view Part 2.