USDA reports a slight drop in the number of U.S. farms, farm acreage

The USDA’s newly released annual report on "Farm and Land in Farms" showed drops in farm numbers and farm acreage in 2021 compared with 2020.

The 17-page report said the number of farms in the U.S. for 2021 is estimated at 2,012,050, down 6,950 farms from 2020. 

The number of farms increased in all sales classes except $1,000-$9,999, $100,000-$249,999, and $1 million or more, the report said. In 2021, 51% of all farms had less than $10,000 in sales and 81.5% of all farms had less than $100,000 in sales. In 2021, 7.4% of all farms had sales of $500,000 or more.

Total land in farms, at 895.3 million acres, decreased 1.3 million acres from 2020. The biggest change for 2021 is that producers in the sales class of $1,000-$9,999 operated 640,000 fewer acres than in 2020, the report said. In 2021, 30.1% of all farmland was operated by farms with less than $100,000 in sales, while 40.9% of all farmland was operated by farms with sales of $500,000 or more.

The average farm size for 2021 is 445 acres, up from 444 acres the previous year, the report said. Average farm size increased in the $1 million or more sales class and decreased or remained unchanged in all other sales classes.