Top Illinois Agriculture Facts From the 2024 Census of Agriculture
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As one of the state’s leading industries, agriculture is big business in Illinois. The Prairie State produces a long and varied list of agricultural commodities, including soybeans (ranking No. 1 in the nation for soybean production), corn, hogs, beef cattle, dairy products and much more. According to the USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, there are 71,123 farms in Illinois with a market value of agricultural products sold totaling more than $26.4 billion. (The 2022 Census of Agriculture data was released in February 2024 and is the most recent census data available.)
The number of farms in Illinois has decreased by 2% since 2017 and by 3% since 2002. However, there are still more than 26 million acres of farm land in Illinois, and the state’s average farm size is 370 acres.
The market value of crops grown in Illinois, including nursery and greenhouse crops, totaled nearly $22.3 billion in 2022. The market value of livestock, poultry and their products, including beef, pork, chicken, dairy and eggs, came to over $4.1 billion.
What Are Illinois’ Top Agricultural Products?
According to the most recent available cash receipts (the total amount of crops or livestock sold in a calendar year), Illinois’ top agricultural products include corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle and calves, milk and other dairy products, and wheat, to name just a few.
See More: Illinois Agriculture
Who Owns Illinois Farms?
The Census of Agriculture calculates farm ownership by the farm’s legal status for tax purposes. Like many states, Illinois farms are primarily owned and operated by families or individuals, with 59,851 family farms as of 2022, or about 84.2% of all farms in the state. Partnerships accounted for 4,578 farms, or 6.4%, while 4,423 farms, or 6.2%, are owned by corporations. Other farms, such as estates or trusts, prison farms, grazing associations, American Indian Reservations, etc., make up about 3.2% of farms in Illinois.
Illinois farmers are predominantly men. According to the Census of Agriculture, there were 87,415 male farmers in Illinois in 2022, making up 72% of the state’s total producers. Illinois’ 33,927 women farmers accounted for 28% of the total.
See More: What’s in Season? Illinois Produce Calendar
How Old Are Illinois Farmers?
Out of 121,342 farmers in Illinois, most are over the age of 55. In fact, the average age of an Illinois farmer is 58.6 years old, up from 58 years in 2017.
About 25% of Illinois farmers fall into the age group of 65 to 74, and 24.2% of farmers are ages 55 to 64. Farmers aged 75 or older account for 15.2%, followed by farmers ranging from 45 to 54 years (14.1%), then farmers ages 35 to 44 (12.8%). Only 7.1% of farmers are ages 25 to 34, and just 1,596 Illinois farmers are under 25, or about 1.3%.
More Illinois Farm Facts
Though the state counts more than 121,000 agricultural producers, 56% of Illinois farmers have a primary occupation other than farming. Only about 52,947 respondents to the Census of Agriculture said their primary occupation was farming.
Active duty military members and veterans also account for some farmers, as Illinois has 10,466 farmers with current or past military service.
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According to the census, there are 155 Black farmers in Illinois who farm 40,597 acres of land on 120 farms.
Illinois is home to 32,538 new and beginning producers, up from 26,995 in 2017.
Illinois has 24,531 colonies of honeybees, up from 15,103 colonies in 2017.
There are 385 USDA-certified organic farms in Illinois, up from 272 in 2017 [Table 51]
Illinois ranks No. 1 in the nation for pumpkin production. Illinois farmers harvested 18,777 acres of pumpkins in 2022, up from 17,399 in 2017.
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