Snapshot: Fewer – and bigger – Oregon farms

Oregon has fewer but larger farms, and older farmers and ranchers, according to early data from the2012 Census of Agriculture just released by the U.S. Department ofAgriculture’s National Agriculture Statistics Service.

The process ofcollecting and tabulating information from thenation’s farmers and ranchershas been completed, the Oregon Department of Agriculture says. A quick look at the figures shows that Oregon is generallyfollowing the trend seen throughout the rest of the nation in many areas.

“Thenumber of farms in Oregon is down significantly from the previous census, evenby a greater percentage than the rest of the nation,” says Dave Losh, statestatistician with the Oregonfield office of NASS. “But like the rest of thenation, the decrease has taken place in all income categories of farms, exceptthose operations that reported more than $250,000 in income for 2012.”

TheCensus of Agriculture is conducted every five years, and is the most ambitiousand important compilation of all agriculture surveys. Data from all 50 states has been gathered and isbeing analyzed following a comprehensive surveyof nearly every known farmer and rancher in the United States.

Thefederal government shutdown in October came at a critical time and delayed theanalysis of this preliminary, partial release of the data.

Amongthe national highlights:

There are more than 2.1 million farms inthe US, but that is a 4.3 percent decrease from the 2.2 million farms countedin the 2007 census.

Despite fewer farms, the average size ofUS farms is 434 acres, which is an increase over the 418 acres reported as anaverage size in 2007.

The decrease in number of farmsnationally is registered in all size categories with the exception of thosefarms a thousand acres or more.

Average age of operator is 58, up fromthe average of 57.1 years old reported in 2007.

Oregon’spreliminary census data shows that the state is headed in the same direction asthe rest of the country in key categories, but to a greater degree.

The number of farms in Oregon is 35,439,down 8.1 percent from 2007 when there were 38,523 farms reported. Going back 10years, there has been an 11.4 percent drop in thenumber of Oregon farms.

Average size of farms in Oregon increasedto 460 acres– up 8.2 percent from 2007.

The amount of land in farms in Oregonfell slightly to 16,301,578 acres in 2012.

The number of farms dropped in allcategories of size and all categories of income with the exception ofoperations with more than $250,000 in annual sales. The number of farms reporting $1 million or more in annualsales increased in Oregon from 858 in 2007 to 989 in 2012. The biggest categorydrop was farms reporting less than $50,000 in annual sales.

Market value of agricultural productssold increased 11.3 percent in 2012 to $4.8 billion, which is a whopping 52.8percent increase from the market value reported 10 years ago.

The percentage of principal operators inOregon reporting something other than farming as their primary occupation isstill in the majority, but has dropped from 54 percent to justbarely over 50percent.

The average age of operator is now 59.6years, up from 57.5 years in 2007 and 54.9 years in 2002. Oregon’s average ageis higher than the national average.

Moredetailed statistics, including county level data, will be released in May.

Loshsays economics and the higher cost of being a farmer is probably mostresponsible for the exit of part-time farmers and some of the small-scaleoperators.

“We’veseen farm expenses increase since the last census, and that could be making itdifficult for those without a scale of production to continue at this time.”

Loshis also pleased with the participation in the census by Oregon agriculture.

“Oregonhad a good response rate. Nearly 83 percent of our producers took the time tocomplete the Census of Agriculture, which is better than the national averageof about 80 percent.”

“Thiscensus data once again shows the strength of Oregon agriculture and itscontribution to our state’s economy,” says Katy Coba, director of the OregonDepartment of Agriculture. “I’mstill very concerned about the increasing ageof our farmers and ranchers, and if the number of farms and total farm acreage willcontinue to decrease in Oregon.

“I will be very interested to seeadditionaldetails from the census, including some of the production and sales numbers forspecific types of crops and livestock as well as what is taking place in eachof Oregon’s 36 counties. Thissnapshot is extremely important, and I’m gratefulfor the majority of operators who recognized the value of participating in thesurvey.”

Censusdata often forms the basis of decisions, such as where Extension Service shouldincrease programs and services, and where research and grant dollars should beallocated.

The privatesector looks at the data as well. Farm implement dealershave been known to pull out of one area and into another, based on a drop or arise in the number of operators nearby. Census figures alsoprovide help inanalyzing and developing policies on water use for irrigation and ruraldevelopment.

Forstate and national data, go to http://www.agcensus.usda.gov