Top New Hampshire Agriculture Facts From the 2024 Census of Agriculture
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New Hampshire agriculture is a thriving and diverse industry that significantly contributes to the state economy each year. According to the USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, there are 3,949 farms in New Hampshire with a market value of agricultural products sold totaling more than $249 million. (The 2022 Census of Agriculture data was released in February 2024 and is the most recent census data available.)
The number of farms in New Hampshire has decreased by 4% since 2017 but increased by 17% since 2002. There are 417,187 acres of farm land in New Hampshire, and the state’s average farm size is 106 acres.
The market value of crops grown in New Hampshire, including nursery and greenhouse crops, totaled more than $144 million in 2022. The market value of livestock, poultry and their products, including beef, pork, chicken, dairy and eggs, came to nearly $105 million.
What Are New Hampshire’s Top Agricultural Products?
According to the most recent available cash receipts (the total amount of crops or livestock sold in a calendar year), New Hampshire’s top agricultural products include chicken eggs, milk and other dairy products, turkeys, floriculture, and cattle and calves, to name a few.
See More: New Hampshire Agriculture
Who Owns New Hampshire Farms?
The Census of Agriculture calculates farm ownership by the farm’s legal status for tax purposes. Like many states, New Hampshire farms are primarily owned and operated by families or individuals, with 3,261 family farms as of 2022, or about 82.6% of all farms in the state. Corporations accounted for 292 farms, or 7.4%, while 262 farms, or 6.6%, are owned by partnerships. Other farms, such as estates or trusts, prison farms, grazing associations, American Indian Reservations, etc., make up about 3.4% of farms in New Hampshire.
New Hampshire farmers are relatively evenly split between men and women. According to the Census of Agriculture, there were 3,979 male farmers in New Hampshire in 2022, making up 55% of the state’s total producers. New Hampshire’s 3,230 women farmers accounted for 45% of the total.
See More: What’s Growing? New Hampshire Produce Calendar
How Old Are New Hampshire Farmers?
Out of 7,209 farmers in New Hampshire, most are over the age of 55. In fact, the average age of a New Hampshire farmer is 59 years old, up from 57.5 years in 2017.
More than a quarter of New Hampshire farmers (around 28.7%) fall into the age group of 65 to 74 years, and 25.2% of farmers are ages 55 to 64. Farmers ranging from 45 to 54 years old account for 15.3%, followed by farmers aged 75 or older (12.5%), then farmers ages 35 to 44 (11.1%). Only 5.7% of farmers are ages 25 to 34, and just 103 New Hampshire farmers are under 25, or about 1.5%.
See More: 6 Top Agritourism Spots to Visit in New Hampshire
More New Hampshire Farm Facts
Though the state counts more than 7,000 agricultural producers, 60% of New Hampshire farmers have a primary occupation other than farming. Only about 3,000 respondents to the Census of Agriculture said their primary occupation was farming.
Active duty military members and veterans also account for some farmers, as New Hampshire has 695 farmers with current or past military service.
New Hampshire is home to 131 USDA-certified organic farms, up from 119 in 2017
There were 2,544 new and beginning producers in New Hampshire in 2022, up from 2,207 in 2017.
New Hampshire’s cattle and calf inventory totaled 29,647 in 2022.
New Hampshire farmers cultivated 1,083 acres of berries in 2022, 798 of which were blueberries.