Top Missouri Agriculture Facts From the 2024 Census of Agriculture
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Missouri’s fertile and varied terrain allows farmers across the state to produce a long list of agricultural commodities for the state, nation and world. According to the USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, there are 87,887 farms in Missouri with a market value of agricultural products sold totaling $14.7 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 Missouri has decreased by 8% since 2017 and by 18% since 2002. However, there are still more than 27 million acres of farm land in Missouri, and the state’s average farm size is 308 acres.
The market value of crops grown in Missouri, including nursery and greenhouse crops, totaled nearly $7.9 billion in 2022. The market value of livestock, poultry and their products, including beef, pork, chicken, dairy and eggs, came to more than $6.8 billion.
What Are Missouri’s Top Agricultural Products?
According to the most recent available cash receipts (the total amount of crops or livestock sold in a calendar year), Missouri’s top agricultural products include soybeans, corn, cattle and calves, broilers (chickens raised for meat), and hogs, to name a few.
See More: Missouri Agriculture
Who Owns Missouri Farms?
The Census of Agriculture calculates farm ownership by the farm’s legal status for tax purposes. Like many states, Missouri farms are primarily owned and operated by families or individuals, with 77,594 family farms as of 2022, or about 88.3% of all farms in the state. Partnerships accounted for 4,723 farms, or 5.4%, while corporations own 3,689 farms, or 4.2%. Other farms, such as estates or trusts, prison farms, grazing associations, American Indian Reservations, etc., make up about 2% of farms in Missouri.
Missouri farmers are predominantly men. According to the Census of Agriculture, there were 99,489 male farmers in Missouri in 2022, making up 64% of the state’s total producers. Missouri’s 57,163 women farmers accounted for 36% of the total.
See More: Missouri’s Top 10 Agricultural Commodities
How Old Are Missouri Farmers?
Out of 156,652 farmers in Missouri, most are over the age of 55. In fact, the average age of a Missouri farmer is 57.9 years old, up from 57.4 years in 2017.
Just under a quarter of Missouri farmers (around 24.6%) fall into the age group of 55 to 64 years, and 23.7% of farmers are ages 65 to 74. Farmers ranging from 45 to 54 years old account for 15.4%, followed by farmers over 75 years old (14.1%), then farmers ages 35 to 44 (12.6%). Only 7.9% of farmers are ages 25 to 34, and just 2,761 Missouri farmers are under 25, or about 1.7%.
See More: What’s Growing? Missouri Produce Calendar
More Missouri Farm Facts
Though the state counts more than 156,000 agricultural producers, 61% of Missouri farmers have a primary occupation other than farming. Only about 61,000 respondents to the Census of Agriculture said their primary occupation was farming.
Active duty military members and veterans also account for some farmers. Missouri has 15,901 farmers with current or past military service.
Missouri is home to 324 USDA-certified organic farms.
5,484 Missouri farms use renewable energy-producing systems.
Missouri counted 46,312 new and beginning producers in 2022, including 18,977 women.