Top Oregon Agriculture Facts From the 2024 Census of Agriculture
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Oregon’s vast and diverse agricultural industry produces everything from fruit and flowers to seafood, dairy, hazelnuts and much more. In fact, the state produces more than 200 different commodities, making Oregon agriculture a significant contributor to the state economy. According to the USDA’s most recent Census of Agriculture, there are 35,547 farms in Oregon with a market value of agricultural products sold totaling more than $6.7 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 Oregon has decreased by 6% since 2017 and by 11% since 2002. However, there are still more than 15 million acres of farm land in Oregon, and the state’s average farm size is 430 acres.
The market value of crops grown in Oregon, including nursery and greenhouse crops, totaled more than $4.6 billion in 2022. The market value of livestock, poultry and their products, including beef, pork, chicken, dairy and eggs, came to over $2.1 billion.
What Are Oregon’s Top Agricultural Products?
According to the most recent available cash receipts (the total amount of crops or livestock sold in a calendar year), Oregon’s top agricultural products include cattle and calves, milk and other dairy products, hay, wheat, and potatoes, to name a few.
See More: Oregon Agriculture
Who Owns Oregon Farms?
The Census of Agriculture calculates farm ownership by the farm’s legal status for tax purposes. Like many states, Oregon farms are primarily owned and operated by families or individuals, with 29,265 family farms as of 2022, or about 82.3% of all farms in the state. Corporations account for 3,086 farms, or 8.7%, while partnerships own 2,429 farms, or 6.8%. Other farms, such as estates or trusts, prison farms, grazing associations, American Indian Reservations, etc., make up about 2.2% of farms in Oregon.
Oregon farmers are predominantly men. According to the Census of Agriculture, there were 38,414 male farmers in Oregon in 2022, making up 56% of the state’s total producers. Oregon’s 30,150 women farmers accounted for 44% of the total.
See More: What’s in Season? Oregon Produce Calendar
How Old Are Oregon Farmers?
Out of 68,564 farmers in Oregon, most are over the age of 55. In fact, the average age of an Oregon farmer is 58.6 years old, up from 57.9 years in 2017.
Just over a quarter of Oregon farmers (around 25.5%) fall into the age group of 65 to 74 years, and 24.2% of farmers are aged 55 to 64. Farmers ranging from 45 to 54 years old account for 15.3%, followed by farmers aged 75 or older (14.1%), then farmers aged 35 to 44 (13.7%). Only 5.9% of farmers are aged 25 to 34, and just 831 Oregon farmers are under 25, or about 1.3%.
More Oregon Farm Facts
Though the state counts more than 68,000 agricultural producers, 58% of Oregon farmers have a primary occupation other than farming. Only about 29,000 respondents to the Census of Agriculture said their primary occupation was farming.
Active duty military members and veterans also account for some farmers, as Oregon has 6,691 farmers with current or past military service.
See More: How Oregon’s Agriculture Industry Became an Economic Powerhouse
According to the census, there are 74 Black farmers in Oregon who farm 8,939 acres of land across 65 farms.
Oregon is home to 519 USDA-certified organic farms, up from 483 in 2017.
Oregon has 3,508 farms using renewable energy-producing systems, up from 2,845 in 2017.
In 2022, Oregon’s 127,382 colonies of honeybees produced more than 4 million pounds of honey.
Oregon is also a big fruit producer, with 153,812 acres of land in orchards. In 2022, Oregon farmers harvested 15,585 acres of pears and 4,560 acres of apples.
See More: Oregon Pear Producers Share the Fruits of Their Labor