Number of Farms Fall in 2019

The total number of farms in Minnesota in 2019 was 68,000, down 500 farms from 2018, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service – Farms and Land in Farms 2019 Summary report. 

Approximately two-thirds of Minnesota’s farms had less than $100,000 in sales. 

Total land in farms in Minnesota in 2019 was 25.5 million acres, unchanged since 2017. 

Farms in the $250,000-$499,999 sales class showed an increase of 100,000 acres, while farms in the $1,000,000 and over sales class showed a decrease of 100,000 acres from 2018. 

The average farm size in Minnesota in 2019 was 375 acres, up three acres from 2018. 

The largest increases were in the $250,000-$499,999 sales class which increased 18 acres and in the $1,000,000 and over sales class which increased 21 acres on average from 2018. 

The number of farms in the United States for 2019 is estimated at 2,023,400, down 5,800 farms from 2018. 

Total land in farms, at 897,400,000 acres, decreased 2,100,000 acres from 2018. 

The average farm size for 2019 is 444 acres, up 1 acre from the previous year. 

Number of farms declined by 5,800 from 2018. 

The number of farms in the $100,000 – $249,999 and $250,000 – $499,999 sales classes increased while all other sales classes declined. 

In 2019, 51.1 percent of all farms had less than $10,000 in sales and 81.5 percent of all farms had less than $100,000 in sales. 

In 2019, 7.4 percent of all farms had sales of $500,000 or more. 

Land in farms, at 897,400,000 acres, is down 2,100,000 acres from 2018. 

The biggest change for 2019 is that producers in Sales Class $100,000 – $249,999 operated 1,170,000 fewer acres than in 2018. 

In 2019, 30.2 percent of all farmland was operated by farms with less than $100,000 in sales, while 40.8 percent of all farmland was operated by farms with sales of $500,000 or more. 

The average farm size continued to increase in 2019 as the number of farms declined. 

The overall average size increased by 1 acre to 444 acres per farm. 

Average farm size decreased in the $100,000-$249,999 and $250,000 – $499,999 sales classes and increased or remained unchanged in all others.

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