Over 140,000 [U.S.] Farms Lost in 5 Years
American Farm Bureau Federation | March 07, 2024 | Daniel MunchBetween 2017 and 2022, the number of farms in the U.S. declined by 141,733 or 7%.
Acres operated by farm operations during the same timeframe declined by 20.1 million (2.2%), a loss equivalent to an area about the size of Maine. Only 1.88% of acres operated and 1% of farm operations were classified under a non-family corporate farm structure.
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USDA defines a farm as an operation that produced and sold, or normally would have sold, $1,000 or more of agricultural products during the census year.
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Since 1950, the number of farm operations has declined by 3.75 million (66%) and the number of acres farmed declined by 323 million (27%) – slightly less than twice the size of Texas.
. . . the U.S. population more than doubled, going from 159 million in 1950 to 340 million in 2023.
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Hawaii faces a unique situation, with only enough production and food storage capacity to sustain itself for seven days, exacerbated by a 7% loss in actively farmed land over the past five years.
I’ve read something like this and it was basically the same thing except it explained that the reason farms are less and less is because they’re being bought by large corporations. Fewer Mom and Pop farms and guess who’s buying them up? China.
I’m wondering if the Big Guy still gets his 10%.
Hawaii faces a unique situation…
Waaa? Nah man. Like most island communities, the food literally walks through your backyard daily. They might only have 7 days worth of cold cuts at the Safeway, but when that runs out you go out to your mango tree, and make yourself a nice chutney to go with the family of wild chickens that live out under your shed.
It’s the Aloha Spirit.
The urge to merge has defined American business for a long, long time. Economies of scale and all that stuff. As farming is condensed to a handful of corporations, like other industries, competition is eliminated, and the extent of influence that industry has in legislation expands. Oh, and the power over the average consumer is multiplied. You have “X” number of choices and you can’t do anything about it, and there’s no workaround ofttimes. There are abundant other problems, but my blood pressure is high enough, so I’ll stop.
Don’t worry about it – hemp growers will fill the gap!