Every five years, USDA releases millions of data points are released as part of the Census of Agriculture. The data sets include everything from the number of farms to total production to demographics—at national, state and county levels.
USDA will release the 2017 edition on Thursday, April 11 at 11 a.m. CDT. Ahead of the data release, take a look at some key data sets from the 2012 Census of Agriculture. How will the 2017 data compare? Stay tuned to AgWeb.com for complete coverage.
(click maps to enlarge)
Farmer Age
The average age of a principal farm operator is 58 years old. The average age is generally highest in the South, and lowest in the Upper Plains.
Farm Income
California and the Corn Belt states (Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska and the Dakotas) have the highest concentration of counties with farm operations in the highest net cash farm income categories. For 2019, USDA predicts net cash farm income to be $95.7 billion across all U.S. farms. That’s nearly 3% higher than 2018.
Number of Farms
As of 2012, the U.S. was home to 2,109,303 farms. Overall, 40% of all U.S. land is in farms.
What Is Grown Where?
In 2012, 163.5 million acres were dedicated to corn and soybeans. For the first time ever, soybeans and corn for grain acres comprised more than 50% of all cropland harvested. See where all of the major crops are grown in the U.S.
Corn
Sorghum
Beef cows are produced in many areas of the country, while dairy cows and hogs are much more concentrated.
Beef Cows
USDA will release the 2017 edition on Thursday, April 11 at 11 a.m. CDT. How will the 2017 data compare to the data above? Stay tuned to AgWeb.com for complete coverage.
