2017 Ag Census Shows Shifting PA Ag Landscape

What is the Census of Agriculture?

The Census of Agriculture measures agricultural "activity and productivity" of every county in the United States. The massive undertaking of compiling and analyzing data from everyone who produced an agricultural product in the United States was first conducted in 1840 and has been conducted once every five years for the past several decades.

Data solicited from agricultural producers includes total acreage, acreage owned and rented, acreage leased to others, county of operation; land-use, such as: double-cropping, inter-cropping, strip-cropping, fallow, cropland (field crops, hay and forage crops, vegetables, Christmas trees, nursery, etc.); idle cropland (participating in programs like CRP, CREP, WRP, FWP, etc.); woodland, pasture; land use practices like tillage, cover crops, and irrigation; acres with crop insurance or enrolled in a federal program (like CRP, etc.); total ag program payments received, including disaster payments, market loss, CSP, EQIP, etc.), and amount paid on loans.

Filling out the census is required by law and it is a time-consuming obligation of farmers. However, data from the census are incredibly important, and used to inform federal, state, and local legislation that impact farmers. Additionally, agribusinesses can use the census to determine the needs of their clientele and predict future needs. Farmers themselves may also be interested in the data to identify production trends or market opportunities.

What About Pennsylvania?

Compared to 2012 the total number of farms was down 6,152 or 10% for a total of 53,157 farms in 2017, and the total land in farms was down 5.5%, dropping from 7.7 to 7.3 million acres. The average operator in 2017 was 54.8 years old and male, though females made up a larger proportion of principal operators in 2017 than in previous census years. Principal operators also spent more days working off the farm in 2017 than in 2012, a trend that is likely to continue. Total farm production expenses across all types of farms increased over 2012, with feed, fuel, and utilities making up the largest proportion of expenses.

Though Pennsylvania's total land in farms was down, cropland acreage was slightly up from 2012 to 2017 reversing a multi-census downward trend, increasing 2% from 4.5 to 4.7 million acres. The total of farms with cropland were interestingly down 10% from 2012, despite the 2% increase in cropland acres, inferring consolidation of more, smaller crop farms into fewer, larger crop farms, matching a national trend.

The number of Certified Organic farms nearly doubled between 2012 and 2017, from 581 to 1055 farms. The operators of these farms were more than 10 years younger on average than all farms combined, at 44.6 years.

Corn silage acreage was 14% lower, and hay acreage including alfalfa was 10% lower in 2017 than 2012. This coincided with the loss of 915 dairy farms; however, the number of dairy cows remained stable in the same period, possibly indicating a switch to more concentrates in feed rations.

Corn grain acreage was reduced by 4% from 988,376 to 949,375 acres from 2012 to 2017, reversing the upward expansion of corn grain acres between 2002 and 2012.

Soybean acreage continued its speedy upward climb, increasing by 25% from 2012 to 2017 from 519,718 to 650,111 acres. Since 1997, soybean acreage increased by 80%.

Winter wheat acreage was slightly up from 2012, from 144,725 to 146,685 acres or 1%, stalling the steady decline in acreage since 2002. Oats continued to be planted on fewer acres, down 23% from 2012 to 2017 and now only one-third of the 1997 acreage. Barley acres decreased from 1997 to 2007, increased again in 2012, but decreased by 20% again in 2017, from 52,853 to 42,626 acres.

Sorghum grain acres have remained relatively few and varied over time, but more than doubled from 2012 to 2017 from 2,170 to 4,969 acres. Sorghum silage acres have also historically been relatively few, but peaked in 2012 (9,475 acres) and returned to normal levels in 2017 (6,033 acres).

Tobacco acreage decreased 22% from 2012 to 2017, back to 2002 levels. Vegetable acres decreased by 3%, while orchard acreage increased by 5% during the same period. Mushroom farms and square feet of mushroom production; forest product farms and dollars from Christmas trees, short rotation woody crops, maple products; and agritourism farms and dollars all increased between 2012 and 2017.

In terms of land use, continued adoption of no-till, as well as a shift from reduced tillage to no-till was evident between 2012 and 2017. No-till acreage increased by 17% during that time, while reduced tillage acres reduced by 3%, and no-till + reduced tillage acres increasing by 11%, from 1.9 to 2.1 million acres. Non-CRP cover crop acres also increased by 33%, to 595,309 acres.

Layer farms were down a slight 3%, but layer numbers were up by 5% between 2012 and 2017, pointing toward higher animal concentrations. Broiler farms and numbers both increased by over 10%, with 173 more farms and 17.2 million more broilers grown in 2017 than 2012. Additionally, turkeys, ducks and geese were up from 2012.

Pennsylvania added 1,296 new beef farms, an 11% increase, along with a large 47% increase in beef cows. Meanwhile, there were 320 or 10% fewer hog farms, while gaining 9% more hogs. This signals consolidation and higher concentration of animals per farm.

Remember that the Census of Agriculture is a "snapshot in time," and does not necessarily capture year-to-year trends. However, the 2017 census reveals that farm and livestock herd consolidation continue, and costs of production continue to rise. These data are a reminder of the importance of having a business plan as well as transition plans for generational and enterprise changes.

For more Pennsylvania agriculture information and county-level data, you can read the full Pennsylvania Census. To learn how Pennsylvania agriculture compares to our neighboring states, and fits into the regional and national context, you can read the full United States Census.