Last week USDA released some preliminary numbers from the 2012 Census of Agriculture.
South Carolina Ag Commissioner Hugh Weathers:
“We talk about the economic importance of agriculture. Also demographics like the age of our farmers. Those are things we need to learn from the census. It gives us a make-up of our industry.
Our farm numbers are down but the acreage that is under cultivation is increasing. We are just short of 5 million acres of farmland and $3 billion in farm gate receipts in this 2012 census. Our per acre revenue is now $600 vs $500 in the past.
The average size of the farm is also going up. I think that is indicative of farmers retiring and perhaps a neighbor buying them out or other situations. But more positives coming out of the report than negative.
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