Some Quick Thoughts on the 2012 Ag Census
The USDA released a preliminary 2012 Ag Census report last week. This report provides summarized information on the number and types of farms by state. More detailed information will be released later on in the year. Some of my quick thoughts on this preliminary release are (comparisons will be to the 2007 Ag Census):
- Total US farms 2.109 million down from 2.205 million.
- Total farm land of 915 million acres down from 922 million.
- Interesting that farms over 1,000 acres only increased by 434 from 173,049 to 173,083.
- Total farm sales increased from $297 billion to $395 billion, or a 33% increase.
- Crop income was actually higher than livestock income – $212 billion compared to $182 billion. In almost all other census the opposite occurred.
- Farms with gross sales greater than a $1 million increased from 57,292 to 81,634, almost a 43% increase.
- Average age increased from 57.1 to 58.3.
- Top five Ag States are (1) California $42.6 billion, (2) Iowa $30.8 billion, (3) Texas $25.4 billion, (4) Nebraska $23.1 billion and (5) Minnesota $21.3 billion.
The final report will have lots of interesting data with more detail than the preliminary report and we will update you when it is released.
Paul Neiffer, CPA
Paul Neiffer is a certified public accountant and business advisor specializing in income taxation, accounting services, and succession planning for farmers and agribusiness processors. Paul is a principal with CliftonLarsonAllen in Walla Walla, Washington, as well as a regular speaker at national conferences and contributor at agweb.com. Raised on a farm in central Washington, he has been immersed in the ag industry his entire life, including the last 30 years professionally. Paul and his wife purchase an 180 acre ranch in 2016 and enjoy keeping it full of animals.
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