The number of farms in the United States peaked at 6.8 million in 1935 and then fell sharply until the early 1970s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The decline reflected the increasing productivity of U.S. agriculture as well as greater employment opportunities in non-farm sectors of the economy.
Since the early 1970s, the number of U.S. farms has continued to decline, but much more slowly. There were 2.01 million U.S. farms in 2021, down from 2.20 million in 2007. Farms accounted for 895 million acres of land in 2021, and the average farm size was 445 acres, only slightly greater than the 440 acres recorded in the early 1970s, the USDA said.
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