On February 13th, the 2022 Census of Agriculture was released. Since this every-five-year update was distributed, it has been given more than a casual glance.
On a national basis the total number of farms and ranches came in at 1.9 million – down 7 percent from 2017. The hard numbers show 141,733 fewer farms in 2022 than in 2017. Beyond fewer farmers and ranchers, we also see a decline in the number of farm acres, falling to 880,100,848, a loss of more than 20 million acres from just five years earlier.
“The latest census numbers put in black and white the warnings our members have been expressing for years,” said American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) President Zippy Duvall. “Increased regulations, rising supply costs, lack of available labor and weather disasters have all squeezed farmers to the point that many of them find it impossible to remain economically sustainable.
“Family farms not only help drive the economy, they allow the rest of the nation the freedom to pursue their dreams without worrying about whether there will be enough food in their pantries.” Duvall continued, “We urge Congress to heed the warning signs of these latest numbers. Passing a new farm bill that addresses these challenges is the best way to help create an environment that attracts new farmers and enables families to pass their farms to the next generation.”
Digging into Nevada’s numbers from the 2022 Census of Agriculture, we see that our state’s farm and ranch numbers have also declined. The Silver State’s 2022 number of farms and ranches totaled 3,122. That’s 301 less than in 2017 and 1,015 less than in 2012.
In reviewing some limited comparisons on the county-by-county numbers we see that most counties saw declines in the number of farms and ranches in their county. Exceptions to this reduction from the 2017 Census of Agriculture are Churchill, Douglas and Eureka which gained over the earlier numbers to land where they did in the 2022 Census.
On a statewide comparison of different sizes of operations, we see declines in nearly every category of the dozen different sales breakouts. There are only two of these categories of increases in the different levels of farm sales. There was an insignificant increase (3 more farms and ranches) in the category of $40,000 to $49,999 “Market Value of Ag. Products Sold.” The other category of increased operations is in the category of $500,000-plus, with only 24 more of these farms and ranches in 2022 as opposed to their tally in 2017.
We likely need to consider that the 2022 numbers were submitted in a multi-year drought period which might put into perspective that the 2022 acres of irrigated land in Nevada was down nearly 360,000 acres when compared to 2017 numbers (4,094,386 in 2022 and 4,454,184 in 2017).
Cattle and calf numbers are also off from the 2017 report with 38,347 fewer in 2022’s update. The cows and heifers bred herd has declined by 15,548 according to the 2022 Census of Agriculture, which also fits into an overall national reduction that is playing out.
In his recent Market Intel analysis, AFBF Economist Bernt Nelson shared that the U.S. Cattle Inventory is the lowest in 73 years. Citing the January report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) on the January inventory report, Nelson shared, “This is the lowest Jan. 1 inventory since USDA’s 82.08 million estimate in 1951.”
He then continued by writing, “The calf crop is estimated at 33.6 million head, down 2 percent from last year and the smallest calf crop since 33.1 million in 1948.”
USDA’s January and July Cattle Inventory reports, released toward the end of each respective month, provide the total inventory of beef cows, milk cows, bulls, replacement heifers, other steers and heifers, and the calf crop for the current year.
Pointing to the reasons he considers to be the results of the low cattle numbers, Nelson pointed at drought and high input costs compelling farmers and ranchers to market a higher-than-normal percentage of female cattle.
Hay is Nevada’s top crop and once again, the numbers for the 2022 Census of Agriculture show a decline. In 2017 the number of Hay farms was reported at 1,457 with 507,054 acres being irrigated to produce the hay crop. The new agriculture census shows that in 2022 there were 1,338 farms and 429,380 acres in production,
Alfalfa hay acres dropped from 320,361 acres in 2017 to 289,809 acres in 2022 and the number of farms counted as producing alfalfa hay in 2017 (1,175) are now down to 1,068 in 2022.
Nevada’s sheep herd was reported at 71,699 in 2022, as compared to 76,074 in the 2017 Census of Agriculture.
In pouring over the numbers for Nevada’s agricultural statistics, the one category that we found an increase in was in the size of the dairy herd. It wasn’t a huge bump, and it was in spite of a decrease in the number of dairy farms. In 2022 the reported number of milk cows was 31,934 cows. In 2017 this number was listed at 31,599 cows.
In their initial review of the 2022 Census of Agriculture, AFBF noted that it’s encouraging that the number of beginning farmers increased. Then on the other hand, the latest census numbers show the number of farmers over the age of 65 is outpacing younger farmers. Almost 1.3 million farmers are now at or beyond retirement age, while just 300,000 farmers are under the age of 35.
In 2017 the average age of a U.S. farmer/rancher was 57.5. Five years later the average age of U.S. farmers/ranchers is now 58.1 years of age.
There are still a number of different evaluations that are necessary to completely grasp the meaning of the 2022 Census of Agriculture, but we do see from what we’ve evaluated that there’s plenty of challenges that farmers and ranchers continue to deal with in keeping their operations in business. We also see that Nevada agriculture continues to fit in a niche, unique to nearly all other states throughout the U.S.
In a state which is dominated by federally controlled lands, as well as being the driest state in the country, Nevada agricultural producers have carved their operations out of a landscape that is far from ideal. The numbers show that those who have done so richly deserve credit for their accomplishments.
By Doug Busselman | Nevada Farm Bureau Executive Vice President