Top New Jersey Agriculture Facts From the 2024 Census of Agriculture
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From fresh produce to floriculture, New Jersey lives up to its nickname as the Garden State. New Jersey agriculture encompasses a wide range of important commodities and makes a significant impact on the state economy each year. According to the USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, there are 9,998 farms in New Jersey with a market value of agricultural products sold totaling nearly $1.5 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 New Jersey has increased by 1.2% since 2017 and by 0.7% since 2002. There are more than 711,500 acres of farm land in New Jersey, and the state’s average farm size is 71 acres.
The market value of crops grown in New Jersey, including nursery and greenhouse crops, totaled nearly $1.4 billion in 2022. The market value of livestock, poultry and their products, including beef, pork, chicken, dairy and eggs, came to more than $134 million.
What Are New Jersey’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 Jersey’s top agricultural products include floriculture, chicken eggs, blueberries, corn and soybeans, to name a few.
See More: New Jersey Agriculture
Who Owns New Jersey Farms?
The Census of Agriculture calculates farm ownership by the farm’s legal status for tax purposes. Like many states, New Jersey farms are primarily owned and operated by families or individuals, with 7,849 family farms as of 2022, or about 78.5% of all farms in the state. Corporations account for 1,144 farms, or 11.4%, while partnerships own 842 farms, or 8.5%. Other farms, such as estates or trusts, prison farms, grazing associations, American Indian Reservations, etc., make up about 1.6% of farms in New Jersey.
New Jersey farmers are predominantly men. According to the Census of Agriculture, there were 11,523 male farmers in New Jersey in 2022, making up 62% of the state’s total producers. New Jersey’s 7,068 women farmers accounted for 38% of the total.
See More: New Jersey Cultivates Urban Agriculture
How Old Are New Jersey Farmers?
Out of 18,591 farmers in New Jersey, most are over the age of 55. In fact, the average age of a New Jersey farmer is 58.7 years old, up from 58.5 years in 2017.
More than a quarter of New Jersey farmers (around 29.4%) fall into the age group of 55 to 64 years. 23.2% of farmers are ages 65 to 74. Farmers ranging from 45 to 54 years old account for 14.3%, followed by farmers aged 75 or older (13.9%), then farmers ages 35 to 44 (11.4%). Only 6.1% of farmers are ages 25 to 34, and just 319 New Jersey farmers are under 25, or about 1.7%.
See More: Fresh From New Jersey’s Farms
More New Jersey Farm Facts
Though the state counts more than 18,000 agricultural producers, 59% of New Jersey farmers have a primary occupation other than farming. Only about 7,700 respondents to the Census of Agriculture said their primary occupation was farming.
Active duty military members and veterans also account for some farmers. New Jersey has 1,340 farmers with current or past military service.
There are 97 Black farmers in New Jersey who farm 1,403 acres of land across 61 farms.
The state counts 5,570 new and beginning producers, up from 4,002 in 2017.
New Jersey is home to 81 USDA-certified organic farms, up from 78 in 2017.
New Jersey is home to 19,293 colonies of honeybees and produced 636,431 pounds of honey in 2022.