By Molly Clark
As this week marks America’s 250th anniversary celebrations, it is interesting to take a very quick look at a snapshot of how agriculture has changed over the course of American history using data from the USDA Agriculture Census.
In the early 20th century, agriculture was labor intensive and usually happened on small, very diversified farms. Farms raised animals, grew a large variety of crops and depended heavily on family labor. Rural life was much more prominent: in 1900, just under 40% of the US population lived on farms, and about 60% lived in rural areas. Today, only about 1% of Americans live on farms and agriculture is shaped by fewer, larger, more specialized, and more high-tech operations.
The number of US farms grew through the early 1900s and peaked in 1935 at about 6.8 million farms. From there, the number dropped sharply through the 1970s and then continued a gradual decline. In 2024, there were about 1.8 million US farms. The country has far fewer farms, but the remaining operations are much larger than before. The average farm size in 2024 was 466 acres compared with about 150 acres in the mid-20th century. As well as the stark change in farm size, most farms have shifted away from the traditional model of growing a mix of crops and raising several kinds of livestock. Today, agricultural operations are extremely specialized, with farms focusing on just a few major crops, or one type of livestock.
Farms under 180 acres still make up nearly 70% of all US farms, and smaller farms certainly play a crucial role in local food systems, farmers markets, community supported agriculture and in helping new farmers get started!
Farming has one of the oldest workforces of any major occupation in the country. Farmers aged 65 and older now make up more than 40% of all US producers and the average age of a farmer is close to 60.
According to the National Young Farmers Coalition, there is some encouraging news, though. The 2022 Census of Agriculture showed a 7% increase in farmers under age 44, with the biggest jump among producers under 25- suggesting young people are still interested in agriculture, even if getting started is not easy. Young and beginning farmers often face significant barriers, including very high land prices (especially closer to urban areas), student loan debt, limited access to capital, and health care cost challenges. These issues make it harder for the next generation to enter farming and stay there.
Small farms between 1 and 9 acres declined by more than 14% from 1997 to 2022. This is significant because very small farms can serve as important entry points for young and beginning farmers and are often more diverse and more likely to be managed regeneratively!
These shifts in American agriculture raise important questions about land access, food systems, rural communities, and who will be able to farm in the future.
Rushton Farm serves as an important model of a community working together to protect critical farmland and make the land available and accessible to farmers to provide healthy food, grown safely and sustainably to a group of dedicated CSA members!
We’d love to see the future of farming in our region include more replicas of the Rushton Farm model!
