Iowa loses nearly 23% of midsize farms over 2 decades
Iowa’s smallest and largest farms have proliferated over the past 20 years, while the number of those in the middle is shrinking, the latest U.S. Census of Agriculture shows.
Farms of fewer than 180 acres have increased nearly 12% over the past two decades, according to the census, a comprehensive farm survey the U.S Department of Agriculture conducts every five years.
Experts say that’s because farmers are scaling down in the face of recordhigh land prices and escalating expenses for seed, fertilizer, tractors and other equipment and products needed to raise crops and livestock.
“Farmers who aren’t getting or inheriting land from their family have to start with a smaller footprint,” said Sally Worley, executive director of Practical Farmers of Iowa, a sustainable agriculture nonprofit. “The capital startup costs of farming are ridiculously expensive. Buying 300 acres (roughly the average size of an Iowa farm) would cost millions of dollars.”
At the same time, the number of Iowa farms with 2,000 or more acres spiked 77% from 2002 to 2022, the last year the census covers.
Those who have the resources are taking advantage of the economy of scale, expanding to lower the cost to grow corn, soybeans and other crops that have slim margins of profit, said Chad Hart, an Iowa State University economist.
“We’re seeing fewer farms, but they’re bigger,” he said.
Meanwhile, over 20 years, the number of Iowa farms between the smallest and largest – from 180 acres to 1,999 – has shrunk by nearly 23%, the census shows.
“It’s the disappearing middle,” said Hart, adding that farmers in that category often work jobs off the farm like selling seed or crop insurance to boost their income.
“They’re doing that other job because it lets them do what they love. And that’s farming,” Hart said.
Agriculture secretary sees ‘wake-up call’
Overall, Iowa has 86,911 farms, 3,744 fewer in 2022 than 20 years earlier, the data show. That’s despite the census finding that Iowa added about 800 farms in the five years from 2017 to 2022.
This year’s census shows the state also has lost nearly 1.8 million acres of farmland to development and other uses over two decades – a 5.5% decline. Nearly 586,000 farm acres were lost over five years.
The same trend is happening nationally. U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, speaking in an online presentation following the census’ release, said the nation had 142,000 fewer farms in 2022 than five years earlier. And it has 20 million fewer farm acres.
“Survey after survey continues to show a decline,” the former Iowa governor said.
Since 1981, when then-Agriculture Secretary Robert Bergland issued a warning that the loss of farms would hurt rural communities and jobs, the U.S. has lost 535,000 farms, Vilsack said. That’s a number equal to the combined total of farms in North and South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Missouri and Colorado.
“That’s a wake-up call,” Vilsack said, adding that President Joe Biden’s administration is working to turn the tide, pushing to add income sources for U.S. farmers. For example, the administration is boosting independent meat and poultry operations to offset meatpacking consolidation, helping local and regional food networks that sell directly to consumers, and adding farm revenue through increased use of renewable energy produced primarily from corn and soybeans, he said.
The survey prompts critical questions, Vilsack said. “Are we OK with losing that many farms? Are we OK with losing that much farmland? Or is there a better way – can we correct some of the challenges this data presents?”