RICHMOND, Va. — The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service Virginia office has announced the results of the 2017 Census of Agriculture with new information about Virginia farms and ranches and those who operate them, including first-time data about on-farm decision making, down to the county level. The market value for livestock sold was $2.6 billion, up 8.6 percent from $2.39 billion in 2012 while the market value for crops at $1.36 billion, up slightly from 2012.
“The 2017 Census of Agriculture provides a wide range of demographic, economic, land, crop and livestock production information,” said Herman Ellison, State Statistician. “Many of these data about Virginia and our counties are only collected and reported as part of the every-five-year census.”
“The Census shows new data that can be compared to previous censuses for insights into agricultural trends and changes down to the county level,” said NASS Administrator Hubert Hamer. “We are pleased to share first-time data on topics such as military status and on-farm decision making. To make it easier to delve into the data, we are pleased to make the results available in many online formats including a new data query interface, as well as traditional data tables.”
Some key Virginia highlights include:
- In 2017, the number of farms in Virginia totaled 43,225, down 6.1 percent from 46,030 farms in 2012.
- Land in farms, 7.8 million acres, down 6.1 percent from 8.3 acres in 2012.
- The average size of farm in Virginia was 180 acres, no change when compared to 2012.
- Market value of agriculture products sold was $3.96 billion, up 6 percent from $3.75 billion in 2012.
- The average value of agriculture products sold per farm was $91,625 compared to $81,540 in 2012.
For the 2017 Census of Agriculture, NASS changed the demographic questions to better represent the roles of all persons involved in on-farm decision making. As a result, in 2017 the number of all producers totaled 70,594, up 2.4 percent from 2012.
Other demographic highlights include:
- The number of female producers totaled 25,509, up 18 percent from 2012.
- The number of male producers 45,085, down 4.8 percent when compared to 2012.
- The average age of the all producers was 58.5 years, compared to 57.2 years in 2012.
- The young producers (age 35 years or less) totaled 5,996 or 8.5 percent of all producers.
- The number of producers who served in the military was 9,217 or 13 percent of all producers.
- The new and beginning producers (10 years or less on any farm) totaled 18,957 or 27 percent of all producers.
Results are available in many online formats including video presentations, a new data query interface, maps and traditional data tables. All Census of Agriculture information is available at www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus.
The Census tells the story of American agriculture and is an important part of our history. First conducted in 1840 in conjunction with the decennial Census, the Census of Agriculture accounts for all U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. After 1920, the Census happened every four to five years. By 1982, it was regularly conducted once every five years. Today, NASS sends questionnaires to nearly 3 million potential U.S. farms and ranches. Nearly 25 percent of those who responded did so online. Conducted since 1997 by USDA NASS — the federal statistical agency responsible for producing official data about U.S. agriculture — it remains the only source of comprehensive agricultural data for every state and county in the nation and is invaluable for planning the future.
— USDA, NASS