National Data and Statistics - FIC

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National Data and Statistics

Need statistics to make the case for farmland protection? Find frequently requested data from AFT's Farms Under Threat: The State of America's Farmland, the National Resources Inventory, the Census of Agriculture, and Farmland Information Center surveys of purchase of agricultural conservation easement programs. Or, follow links to additional information and data sources. Need help? Call us at 800-370-4879.

See the tables below for statistics at the National level.
For statistics by State use the drop down menu to the right.


On This Page

Farms Under Threat

National Resources Inventory

Census of Agriculture

Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land

Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement Programs

Other Data Sources


Farms Under Threat

Acres Developed by Land Cover/Use 1992 – 2012

Land Cover/Use Urban Development Low Density Residential Total Developed
Cropland 7,408,000 4,385,000 11,793,000
Pastureland 4,662,000 4,379,000 9,041,000
Rangeland 4,285,000 1,408,000 5,693,000
Woodland 1,674,000 2,527,000 4,201,000
Total agricultural land 18,029,000 12,698,000 30,727,000
Forestland 5,107,000 9,739,000 14,846,000
Other 2,463,000 1,297,000 3,761,000
Total 25,600,000 23,735,000 49,335,000

2012 National Resources Inventory

1997-2002 2002-2007 2007-2012 1982-2012
Agricultural land converted to developed land (acres) 4,867,400 3,539,100 1,824,500 24,498,500
Agricultural land at the beginning of the reporting period (acres) 937,815,600 926,494,400 918,305,300 971,232,700
Prime agricultural land at the beginning of the reporting period (acres) 271,816,400 267,502,300 264,112,000 281,483,300
Forest land converted to developed land (acres) 4,062,400 2,718,200 1,406,700 17,705,200
Other rural land converted to developed land (acres) 253,700 215,900 137,300 1,177,100
Total surface area (acres) 1,944,142,600 1,944,142,600 1,944,142,600 1,944,142,600

Census of Agriculture

2002 2007 2012 2017
Farms 2,128,982 2,204,792 2,109,303 2,042,220
Land in farms (acres) 938,279,056 922,095,840 914,527,657 900,217,576
Total land area (acres) 2,263,960,501 2,260,994,361 2,260,583,852 2,260,681,965
Principal operators / Primary producers* 2,128,982 2,204,792 2,109,303 2,042,220
Total operators / All producers* 3,115,172 3,337,450 3,180,074 3,399,834
Principal operators / Primary producers 34 and younger 123,059 118,613 119,833 121,754
Principal operators / Primary producers 65 and older 557,830 655,654 701,276 780,672
Land owned by principal operators 65 and older (acres) 200,722,873 232,257,320 239,753,356
Principal operators / Primary producers with less than 10 years on present farm 593,109 583,286 469,098 510,536
All producers / primary producers with 10 years or less on any farm 908,274 / 472,360
Market value of agricultural products sold ($1,000) 200,646,355 297,220,491 394,646,980 388,522,695
*Reflects new terms in 2017 Census of Agriculture

Tenure, Ownership, and Transition of Agricultural Land

Agricultural Landlords 2014
Agricultural landlords–operators and non-operators 2,131,840
Agricultural land rented out by agricultural landlords (acres) 353,768,136
Non-operator landlords 1,851,796
Agricultural land owned and rented out by non-operator landlords (acres) 283,447,669

 

Principal Landlords 2014
Principal landlords 1,432,065
Agricultural land rented out by principal landlords (acres) 190,969,367
Principal landlords 65 and older 821,803
Land owned and rented out by principal landlords 65 and older (acres) 131,823,201
Women principal landlords 543,728

Purchase of Agricultural Conservation Easement Programs

State-Level Program Activity Totals 2015 2016 2017 2018
Easements or Restrictions Acquired 14,541 15,020 15,551 16,065
Acres Protected 2,579,878 2,672,364 2,799,539 2,943,019
Program Funds Spent to Date $3,887,170,187 $3,969,625,889 $4,103,081,243 $4,245,393,339

Other Data Sources

 

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