COLUMBUS, Ohio — The U.S. Department of Agriculture's 2022 Census of Agriculture was released earlier this month and shows a 7% decrease in the number of farms across the country.

According to the report, "There were 1.9 million farms and ranches (down 7% from 2017) with an average size of 463 acres (up 5%) on 880 million acres of farmland (down 2%). That is 39% of all U.S. land."

“Today’s Census of Agriculture Report underscores it’s imperative that we continue to deliver agriculture policies that create multiple streams of income and new, more competitive models for small- and mid-sized farms," Sec. of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack said in a release. "A combination of trade wars, the pandemic, and policies that furthered a ‘get big or get out’ mentality pushed more people out of farming in the five years since the last Census, than in any other Census period this century. America, and especially our rural communities, cannot afford this trajectory toward larger, but fewer, farms."

Agriculture expert, Andy Vance said farming is a mature industry and with that comes consolidation.

"Generally, what we would see is this idea that mature industries experienced consolidation, and this is true of any industry, but when it comes to farming, one of the things we've seen more and more frequently is say, older farmers retire. Maybe there's not a younger generation behind them that wants to take over the farm," Vance said. "So a neighbor buys that farm or several neighbors. The farm goes up for auction, then it gets acquired by other farmers. So you're really seeing existing farmers operating on more and more acreage."

According to the USDA, the census response rate was 61%.

If you have an idea for the Ag Report, a question for Chuck and Andy or you'd like to send a photo of your farm and the work you do, send an email to charles.ringwalt@charter.com. You can also follow Chuck on Facebook.