AFBF: Census Show Change In Farms Practices

According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, the total number of farms nationwide fell 3.2% while the average farm size increased 1.6% percent since 2012.  Michael Nepveux, American Farm Bureau Federation economist, said farmers are also getting older with the average age of a farmer increasing to 59.4 year old.

The data also shows a 30% increase in the number of female farmers, and an increase in younger farmers.  However, Nepveux said much of that was because the USDA altered how the data is reported.

“In the past, they tended to focus on just the principal operator, whereas now they expanded that to include other decision makers. So that doesn’t necessarily mean that we have 30% more women farming than we did say five years ago. Also, you saw an increase in the number of younger farmers as a result of this. This is due to those intergenerational farms where you have the parents and children operating as business partners on the farm.”

Nepveux added the census also shows changes in farming practices, as farmers are implementing more environmentally friendly production practices.

“For the 2012 census, conventional tillage was the largest category, but in the new census that came out, no-till agriculture rose to the top followed by conservational tillage, and then that conventional tillage was actually the lowest category," Nepveux added.

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