Vanishing Family Farms

According to the latest Census of Agriculture, the number of U.S. farms declined 6.9% in the five years between 2017 and 2022, while the average farm size increased 5.0%. This trend continues a decades-long period of consolidation in U.S. agriculture.

Smaller, independent farms, including those owned and operated by families, often struggle to compete with larger, corporate-owned operations. And the agricultural giants have plenty of resources to buy up small farms that throw in the towel. In 2022, the largest 2% of U.S. farms (5,000 or more acres) controlled 42% of the nation's farmland, up from 35% in 2002.