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Ag stats: 2019 farms and land in farms for the USDA mountain states region

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ARIZONA 

The number of farms and ranches in Arizona in 2019 totaled 19,000, down 200 operations from the 2018 estimate. Total land in farms in Arizona, at 26.2 million acres, was unchanged from the 2018 estimate. The average size of farm was 1,379 acres, compared to 1,365 acres the previous year. 

COLORADO 

The number of farms and ranches in Colorado in 2019 totaled 38,700, down 200 operations from the 2018 estimate. Total land in farms in Colorado, at 31.8 million acres, was unchanged from the 2018 estimate. The average size of farm was 822 acres, compared to 817 acres the previous year. 

MONTANA 

The number of farms and ranches in Montana in 2019 totaled 26,800, down 100 operations from the 2018 estimate. Total land in farms in Montana, at 58.0 million acres, was unchanged from the 2018 estimate. The average size of farm was 2,164 acres, compared to 2,156 acres the previous year. 

NEW MEXICO 

The number of farms and ranches in New Mexico in 2019 totaled 24,800, up 100 operations from the 2018 estimate. Total land in farms in New Mexico, at 40.0 million acres, was down 1 percent from the 2018 estimate. The average size of farm was 1,613 acres, compared to 1,640 acres the previous year. 

UTAH 

The number of farms and ranches in Utah in 2019 totaled 17,800, down 300 operations from the 2018 estimate. Total land in farms in Utah at 10.7 million acres, was unchanged from the 2018 estimate. The average size of farm was 601 acres, compared to 591 acres the previous year. 

WYOMING 

The number of farms and ranches in Wyoming in 2019 totaled 12,000, up 100 operations from the 2018 estimate. Total land in farms in Wyoming, at 29.0 million acres, was unchanged from the 2018 estimate. The average size of farm was 2,417 acres, compared to 2,437 acres the previous year. 

UNITED STATES 

The number of farms in the United States for 2019 is estimated at 2,023,400, down 5,800 farms from 2018. Total land in farms, at 897,400,000 acres, decreased 2,100,000 acres from 2018. The average farm size for 2019 is 444 acres, up 1 acre 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 2019 mid-year surveys to report the value of sales based on production during the 2018 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 2017 Census of Agriculture showed that 471,593 farms or 23.1 percent of the 2,042,220 farms were Point Farms. These Point Farms operated 59,166,158 acres or 6.6 percent of the 900,217,576 acres of farmland. 

Number of farms declined by 5,800 from 2018. The number of farms in the $100,000 - $249,999 and $250,000 - $499,999 sales classes increased while all other sales classes declined. In 2019, 51.1 percent of all farms had less than $10,000 in sales and 81.5 percent of all farms had less than $100,000 in sales. In 2019, 7.4 percent of all farms had sales of $500,000 or more. 

Land in farms, at 897,400,000 acres, is down 2,100,000 acres from 2018. The biggest change for 2019 is that producers in Sales Class $100,000 - $249,999 operated 1,170,000 fewer acres than in 2018. In 2019, 30.2 percent of all farmland was operated by farms with less than $100,000 in sales, while 40.8 percent of all farmland was operated by farms with sales of $500,000 or more. 

The average farm size continued to increase in 2019 as the number of farms declined. The overall average size increased by 1 acre to 444 acres per farm. Average farm size decreased in the $100,000-$249,999 and $250,000 - $499,999 sales classes and increased or remained unchanged in all 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. Land in farms includes land owned and operated as well as land rented from others. Land used rent-free is included as land rented from others. All grazing land, except land used under government permits on a per-head basis, is included as land in farms provided it was part of a farm or ranch. Land under the exclusive use of a grazing association is reported by the grazing association and included as land in farms. All land in American Indian reservations used for growing crops or grazing livestock is included as land in farms. Land in reservations not reported by individual American Indians or non-Native Americans is reported in the name of the cooperative group that used the land. In many instances, the entire American Indian reservation is reported as one farm.