(Dakota Radio Group News – Pierre, SD) The United States Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service released its 2022 Census of Agriculture today (Feb. 13, 2024) and it shows a decline in the number of farms and in the number of acres of farmland in South Dakota, but the size of farms increased.
The data shows there were 28,299 farms in 2022, which is a decrease of 6% from the 2017 Census of Ag. The amount of land in farms reported was 42.3 million acres, down 2% from 2017’s number.
The average size of farm in South Dakota was 1,495 acres, up 4%– or 52 acres– from 2017. Land in farms accounted for 87.2% of the total land area in South Dakota compared to 38.9% in the U.S.
The total value of agricultural products sold in South Dakota in 2022 was $12.9-billion, up 33% from 2017. Of the total value of production, 41% originated from livestock and 59% from crops. Average net income per farm was $159,459 dollars, a 95% increase from 2017.
During 2022, the average age of producers was 57.2 years compared to 56.2 years in 2017. The number of young producers, defined as age 34 or less, was 5,382, or 11% of all producers. The number of female producers was 15,910, or 31% of all producers. For the 2022 ag census, data was collected from a maximum of four producers per farming operation.
The Census of Agriculture also showed 82% of South Dakota farms had internet access compared to 79% for all U.S. farms.
