March 19th, 2024 | Nebraska Farm Bureau News Release
Earlier this year, Tidbits promised a deeper dive into data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture released in February by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). So, this week Tidbits dons the scuba gear for a dive into Nebraska farm numbers. Nebraska had 44,479 farms in 2022, down 4 percent from 2017. Note, the USDA defines a “farm” as any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold.
Thus, many places counted as farms are not what one would consider commercial farms in the sense that persons or families operating them rely on them as the primary source of income. The most recent drop in farm numbers continues the trend towards fewer farms which has been ongoing for decades. Since 1992, farm numbers have declined 21 percent while average farm size has increased 18 percent to 989 acres. FIGURE 1. NUMBER OF FARMS IN NEBRASKA
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Not every county in Nebraska, though, has lost farms—at least over the past decade. Figure 2 shows counties which experienced increases in farm numbers and those with decreases between 2012-2022.
The map clearly shows many more counties lost farms over the period, but 13 counties bucked the trend and gained farms. Except for Dakota County, the gaining counties were clustered in groups of 2-4 counties in different areas of the state. The cluster could be indicative that some regional economic stimuli factored into the increases in farm numbers in these counties.
FIGURE 2. COUNTIES WITH INCREASES/DECREASES IN FARM NUMBERS2012-2022Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
More details on the changes in farm numbers in counties between 2012-2022 are shown in Figure 3. Thomas, Hooker, and Banner Counties saw the largest percentage increases in farm numbers of 21 percent, 20 percent, and 17 percent, respectively.
At the other end of the spectrum, Greeley, Logan, and Thurston Counties saw the biggest declines of 43 percent, 36 percent, and 35 percent, respectively. While losing counties are dispersed across the state, counties with the greatest losses are concentrated in the center of the state at the edge of the Sandhills.
FIGURE 3. PERCENTAGE CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF FARMS SINCE 2012
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Diving a bit deeper, the census numbers provide insights into the size of farms lost. Figure 4 shows farm numbers in four sales categories over five different census years beginning in 2002. Two trends are evident. First, Nebraska is losing farms with sales between $10,000-$500,000. Farms of this size are finding it difficult to compete in the global marketplace.
As a result, they are either leaving agriculture or expanding to become more cost competitive and moving into larger sales categories. Second, the number of farms with sales above $500,000 is growing. Farms with sales above $500,000 numbered 9,388 in 2022, a 232 percent increase from 2012. In fact, farms with $1 million or more in sales, 5,218 farms, accounted for 79 percent of the total market value of agricultural products sold in 2022. The “80/20” rule is alive and well in production agriculture.
FIGURE 4. NUMBER OF FARMS BY SALES CLASS & CENSUS YEAR
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
In summary, the trend towards fewer and larger farms continues. Nebraska is losing smaller-to-mid-sized farms while the largest farms are growing in number. In this regard, Nebraska is no different from U.S. agriculture overall. Most counties lost farms over the past decade, but not all.
A few counties, clustered in regions, saw increases. An even deeper dive would be needed to understand why these counties bucked the overall trend. Finally, while farm numbers are declining, the number of producers on Nebraska farms is increasing, a topic for future Tidbits.
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service
