Wallaces Farmer

Texas, Indiana, Minnesota and Missouri among states reporting loss of land in farms.

March 3, 2021

2 Min Read
Farm Land South Dakota
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The total number of farms in the United States is estimated at 2.019 million for 2020, down 4,400 farms from 2019, according to the February 2021 Farms and Land in Farms report issued by USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

The number of farms in all sales classes declined. In 2020, 51.1% of all farms had less than $10,000 in sales and 81.5% of all farms had less than $100,000 in sales. In 2020, 7.4% of all farms had sales of $500,000 or more.

Total land in farms, at 896,600,000 acres, decreased 800,000 acres from 2019. States losing land in farms include: Indiana, 100,000 acres; Minnesota, 100,000 acres; Missouri, 100,000 acres, and Texas, 500,000 acres. All other states held steady.

The biggest change for 2020 is that producers in Sales Class $10,000 - $99,999 operated 550,000 fewer acres than in 2019, 186.550 million acres in 2020 compared to 187.100 million acres in 2019.

In 2020, 30.1% of all farmland was operated by farms with less than $100,000 in sales, while 40.8% of all farmland was operated by farms with sales of $500,000 or more. Those numbers nearly mirrored 2019 data.

The average farm size for 2020 is 444 acres, unchanged from the previous year. Average farm size increased in the $250,000 - $499,999, $500,000-$999,999, and $1,000,000 or more sales classes and remained unchanged in all others.

Average farm size changed by an acre or two in several states. The largest farms are in Wyoming and Montana, with 2,147 and 2,156 acres, respectively. The smallest farms are in Rhode Island, at 55 acres; Connecticut and Massachusetts, at 69 acres, and New Jersey at 76.

The states with the greatest change in average farm size are North Dakota, moving from 1,506 acres in 2019 to 1,512 in 2020; and Nebraska, moving from 982 acres in 2019 to 987 in 2020.

Click on the download button below to download the entire summary report.

Source: USDA NASS, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset. 

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