FARMS AND LAND IN FARMS
ARIZONA
The number of farms and ranches in Arizona in 2017 totaled 19,600, unchanged from the 2016 estimate. Total land in farms in Arizona, at 25.9 million acres, was unchanged from the 2016 estimate. The average size of farm was 1,321 acres, unchanged from the previous year.
COLORADO
The number of farms and ranches in Colorado in 2017 totaled 33,800, unchanged from the 2016 estimate. Total land in farms in Colorado, at 31.8 million acres, was up less than one-half percent from the 2016 estimate. The average size of farm was 941 acres, compared to 938 acres the previous year.
MONTANA
The number of farms and ranches in Montana in 2017 totaled 27,100, down 300 operations from the 2016 estimate. Total land in farms in Montana, at 59.8 million acres, was up less than one-half percent from the 2016 estimate. The average size of farm was 2,207 acres, compared to 2,179 acres the previous year.
NEW MEXICO
The number of farms and ranches in New Mexico in 2017 totaled 24,700, up 100 operations from the 2016 estimate. Total land in farms in New Mexico, at 43.3 million acres, was up less than one-half percent from the 2016 estimate. The average size of farm was 1,753 acres, compared to 1,756 acres the previous year.
UTAH
The number of farms and ranches in Utah in 2017 totaled 18,200, up 100 operations from the 2016 estimate. Total land in farms in Utah at 11.0 million acres, was unchanged from the 2016 estimate. The average size of farm was 604 acres, compared to 608 acres the previous year.
WYOMING
The number of farms and ranches in Wyoming in 2017 totaled 11,400, down 200 operations from the 2016 estimate. Total land in farms in Wyoming, at 30.2 million acres, was down less than one-half percent from the 2016 estimate. The average size of farm was 2,649 acres, compared to 2,612 acres the previous year.
UNITED STATES
The number of farms in the United States for 2017 is estimated at 2.05 million, down 12 thousand farms from 2016. Total land in farms, at 910 million acres, decreased 1 million acres from 2016. The average farm size for 2017 is 444 acres, up 2 acres from the previous year.
Farm numbers and land in farms are differentiated by six economic sales classes. Farms and ranches are classified into these six sales classes by summing the sales of agricultural products and government program payments. Sales class breaks occur at $10,000, $100,000, $250,000, $500,000, and $1,000,000. Producers were asked during the 2017 mid-year surveys to report the value of sales based on production during the 2016 calendar year.
Point Farms are farms that did not have the required minimum $1,000 in sales for the year to qualify as a farm, but had sufficient crops and livestock to normally have sales of $1,000 or more. Point Farms are assigned a sales class based on the sum of the agricultural point (dollar) values assigned to the quantity of commodities produced but not sold. The 2012 Census of Agriculture showed that 428,810 farms or 20.3 percent of the 2.11 million farms were Point Farms. These Point Farms operated 63.0 million acres or 6.9 percent of the 914.5 million acres of farmland.
Number of farms declined by 12 thousand from 2016. The number of farms in Sales Classes $100,000 - $249,999 and $1,000,000 or more increased while all other sales classes declined. Fifty percent of all farms had less than $10,000 in sales. Eighty percent of all farms had less than $100,000 in sales. Eight percent of all farms had sales of $500,000 or more.
Land in farms, at 910 million acres, was down 1 million acres from 2016. The biggest change for 2017 is that producers in Sales Class $1,000,000 or more operated 1.3 million more acres than in 2016. Similar to the previous year, in 2017 over 30 percent of all farmland was operated by farms with less than $100,000 in sales. Forty-one percent of all farmland was operated by farms with sales of $500,000 or more.
The average farm size continued to increase in 2017 as the number of farms declined more than land in farms. The overall average size increased by 2 acres to 444 acres per farm. Average farm sizes increased in the $250,000 - $499,999, $500,000 - $999,999, and $1,000,000 or more sales classes and decreased or remained unchanged in the others.
USDA’s definition of a farm is “any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the year.” Government payments are included in sales. Ranches, institutional farms, experimental and research farms, and Indian Reservations are included as farms. Places with the entire acreage enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), and other government conservation programs are counted as farms.
The definition of a farm was first established in 1850 and has changed nine times since. The current definition was first used for the 1974 Census.
Land in farms consists of agricultural land used for crops, pasture, or grazing. Also included is woodland and wasteland not actually under cultivation or used for pasture or grazing, provided it was part of the farm operator’s total operation. Land in farms includes acres in CRP, WRP, and other government conservation programs.
For a full copy of the Farms and Land in Farms report please visit www.nass.usda.gov. For state specific questions please contact:
Arizona – Dave DeWalt 1-800-645-7286 Colorado – William R. Meyer 1-800-392-3202 Montana – Eric Sommer 1-800-835-2612 New Mexico – Longino Bustillos 1-800-530-8810 Utah – John Hilton 1-800-747-8522 Wyoming – Rhonda Brandt 1-800-892-1660
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The former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations reportedly requested to unmask over 260 Americans in her last year in office with no explanation.
(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today that it filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit against the U.S. Department of State for “unmasking” and other records tied to Obama’s United Nations Ambassador Samantha Power relating to the ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. (Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of State (No. 1:18-cv-00300)). Unmasking refers generally to the practice of political appointees obtaining the identities of American citizens referenced in intelligence surveillance of foreign nationals.
Judicial Watch sued the State Department after it failed to respond to an October 31, 2017, FOIA request seeking information about Power’s unusual unmasking requests, including:
Any actual or suspected effort by the Russian government or any individual acting on behalf of the Russian government to influence or otherwise interfere with the 2016 presidential election. The alleged hacking of computer systems utilized by the Democratic National Committee and/or the Clinton presidential campaign.
Any actual or suspected communication between any member of the Trump presidential campaign or transition team and any official or employee of the Russian government or any individual acting on behalf of the Russian government.
The identities of U.S. citizens associated with the Trump presidential campaign or transition team who were identified pursuant to intelligence collection activities.
On September 20, 2017, Fox News reported that Power unmasked over 260 persons in her last year as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations in an attempt to uncover associates of President Trump. She “was ‘unmasking’ at such a rapid pace in the final months of the Obama administration that she averaged more than one request for every working day in 2016,” even seeking “information in the days leading up to President Trump’s inauguration.”
On October 13, 2017, Power testified behind closed doors about this matter to the House Intelligence Committee. House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy, who also sits on the Intelligence Committee, stated that “Her testimony is they [the unmasking requests] may be under my name, but I did not make those requests.”
“Unmasking and then illegally leaking the names of Trump team members caught up in foreign intelligence gathering would have been an incredible, but unsurprising abuse by the Obama administration. Was the Clinton-DNC dossier also used as justification to abuse intelligence data to help Hillary Clinton and undermine Donald Trump?” asked Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “And why is the Tillerson State Department stonewalling Judicial Watch’s FOIA investigation into this potentially illegal conduct by its agency employees?”
In a separate lawsuit, Judicial Watch was told by the National Security Council (NSC) in May 2017 that the materials regarding the unmasking by Obama National Security Advisor Susan Rice of “the identities of any U.S. citizens associated with the Trump presidential campaign or transition team” have been removed to the Obama Library.
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Email: press@oc.usda.gov
ADVISORY: Secretary Perdue in Georgia MONDAY
(Washington, D.C., February 16, 2018) – U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue will be in Sparks, Georgia on MONDAY, February 19th to celebrate the opening of new carrot processing facilities at Grimmway Farms with the plant’s owners and staff.
Grimmway Farms’ investment in the new carrot processing facilities is approximately $5,000,000 in this project, with local employment expected to be numerous full-time, permanent jobs and over 50 seasonal jobs for Cook County.
Secretary Perdue Visits Grimmway Farms
WHAT: The Secretary will deliver remarks at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the opening of new carrot processing facilities at Grimmway Farms before holding a media availability and participating in a tour of the new facilities.
WHEN: MONDAY, February 19th at 1:15 p.m. EST
WHERE: Grimmway Farms SE, 11741 US Highway 41, Sparks, GA 31647
*NOTE: Media interested in covering the events should RSVP to press@oc.usda.gov by MONDAY, February 19th, at 8:00 a.m. ET.
