The American agricultural world has seen the number of farms decline over the past five years; but the income of these farms increased to a record in 2022, according to a statistical report presented on Thursday by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
This report, titled “Agricultural Census 2022,” presented Thursday at the Agricultural Outlook Forum agricultural conference in Washington, is produced every five years. This time it is a year in which agricultural prices reached historic highs. Grain and oilseed prices had increased by 68% in 2022, due to severe drought in the west and geopolitical conditions.
“The highest agricultural income in history”
The number of farms and ranches in the United States amounts to 1.9 million, 7% less than in 2017, with an average area of 463 acres (187 hectares), up 5%. Almost 40% of American land is dedicated to agriculture (pastures, crops). The global turnover of these farms and ranches, 95% family-owned, is 543 billion dollars compared to 389 billion in 2017, according to the latest and thirtieth edition of this report published since 1840. The average annual income of a household of farmers reached $79,790, “the highest farm income in history,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a news release.
About 1.4 million farms, or 74% of operations, located on a quarter of agricultural land, have sales at or below $50,000. And the more than 105,000 large farms with sales of more than a million dollars represent 6% of the companies and occupy a third of the land.
The average age of an American farmer is 58.1 years old, an aging of six months compared to 2017 but slowing in recent reports. In 2022, 1.2 million women were farmers, representing 36% of these workers. The largest producing states are California for fruits, vegetables and nuts and Iowa in the Midwest for grains. In terms of land devoted to agriculture and ranching, Texas ranks first.
Source: BFM TV
