‘I’ states farmland acres fall

WASHINGTON — The “I” states each lost several hundred farms from 2024 to 2025, along with declines in acreage, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Land in Farms report.

Land in farms consists of agricultural land used for crops, pasture, or grazing. Also included is woodland and wasteland not actually under cultivation or used for pasture or grazing, provided it was part of the farm operator’s total operation.

Land in farms includes acres in Conservation Reserve Program, Wetland Reserve Easements and other government conservation programs, as well.

Illinois saw a 200,000-acre loss of land in farms, from 26.3 million in 2024 to 26.1 million last year. The number of farms dropped from 70,000 to 69,600 over that same time, and the average farm size dropped by one acre to 375.

Indiana was unchanged year over year with 14.5 million acres of land in farms. The number of farms fell from 52,000 to 51,500, and the average farm size increased by three to 282 acres.

Iowa lost 100,000 acres of land in farms, going from 30 million to 29.9 million acres, and saw a loss of 500 farms to 86,200. The farm size averaged 347 acres, one higher than 2024.

Sales Classes

The report also included data for farms based on the gross value of agricultural products sold. Government program payments are also included.

$1,000 To $9,999

• Illinois: 21,800 farms in 2024, 21,700 in 2025; 1.1 million acres of land in farms in 2024, 1 million in 2025; average farm size of 50 acres in 2024, 46 acres in 2025.

• Indiana: 22,000 farms in 2024, 21,800 in 2025; 950,000 acres unchanged; average of 43 acres in 2024, 44 acres in 2025.

• Iowa: 22,400 farms in 2024, 22,300 in 2025; 850,000 acres unchanged; average of 38 acres unchanged.

$10,000 To $99,999

• Illinois: 19,300 farms in 2024, 19,200 in 2025; 2.2 million acres in 2024, 2.1 million in 2025; average of 114 acres in 2024, 109 in 2025.

• Indiana: 15,200 farms in 2024, 15,000 in 2025; 1.5 million acres unchanged; average of 99 acres in 2024, 100 in 2025.

• Iowa: 25,200 farms in 2024, 25,100 in 2025; 3.1 million acres in 2024, 3.05 million in 2025; average of 123 acres in 2024, 122 in 2025.

$100,000 To $249,999

• Illinois: 8,000 farms in 2024, 7,900 in 2025; 1.8 million acres unchanged; average of 225 acres in 2024, 229 in 2025.

• Indiana: 4,600 farms in 2024, 4,550 in 2025; 1.05 million acres unchanged; average of 228 acres in 2024, 231 in 2025.

• Iowa: 10,800 farms in 2024, 20,700 in 2025; 2.6 million acres unchanged; average of 241 acres in 2024, 243 in 2025.

$250,000 To $499,999

• Illinois: 7,400 farms unchanged; 3.1 million acres unchanged; average of 419 acres unchanged.

• Indiana: 3,200 farms unchanged; 1.1 million acres unchanged; average of 344 acres unchanged.

• Iowa: 9,400 farms in 2024, 9,300 in 2025; 3.55 million acres in 2024, 3.5 million in 2025; average of 378 acres in 2024, 376 in 2025.

$500,000 To $999,999

• Illinois: 5,400 farms in 2024, 5,300 in 2025; 3.4 million acres unchanged; average 630 acres in 2024, 642 in 2025.

• Indiana: 2,600 farms in 2024, 2,550 in 2025; 1.6 million acres unchanged; average 615 acres in 2024,627 in 2025.

• Iowa: 8,100 farms in 2024, 8,000 in 2025; 5.3 million acres unchanged; average 654 acres in 2024, 663 in 2025.

$1 Million Or More

• Illinois: 8,100 farms unchanged; 14.7 million acres unchanged; 1,815 average acres unchanged.

• Indiana: 4,400 farms unchanged; 8.3 million acres unchanged; 1,886 average acres unchanged.

• Iowa: 10,800 farms unchanged; 14.6 million acres unchanged; 1,352 average acres unchanged.

Nationwide

The number of farms in the United States for 2025 is estimated at 1.865 million, down 15,000 farms from 2024. The number of farms decreased in all sales classes except the $1 million or more sales class.

In 2025, 48% of all farms had less than $10,000 in sales and 78.8% of all farms had less than $100,000 in sales. In 2025, 9.9% of all farms had sales of $500,000 or more.

Total land in farms, at 873.95 million acres, decreased 2.510 million acres from 2024. The land in farms decreased in all sales classes except the $1,000,000 or more sales class, which increased by 850,000 acres.

In 2025, 25.7% of all farmland was operated by farms with less than $100,000 in sales, while 50.1% of all farmland was operated by farms with sales of $500,000 or more.

The average farm size for 2025 is 469 acres, up from 466 acres the previous year.

The largest decline at the state level was Texas, which lost 2,000 operations. Texas remains the state with the highest number of farms, far outpacing all others at 229,000.

No state saw an increase in farms, but multiple states did indicate no change from the prior year.

Statistical Methodology

In 2025, USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service implemented a statistical modeling approach to generate survey indications. This approach was in response to the decision to not conduct the June area survey while continuing to produce critical data about U.S. agriculture.

Prior to 2025, data were collected by NASS during the June agricultural survey using sampling procedures to ensure every farm and ranch has a chance of being selected. NASS used a multiple sampling frame approach to count farms and measure land in farms.

An area sampling frame that divided all land into segments is built for every state except Alaska. A sample of segments was selected in each state except Alaska and Hawaii and enumerated in early June.

“Highly trained interviewers located each sampled segment and identified every farm and ranch operating in the segment and the number of acres in each operation. These data were used to compute summaries of farm numbers and land in farms,” the report said.

“Additionally, all farms found in the segments were checked against a list of farms and ranches maintained by NASS to determine if the farm is on the list provided a measure of incompleteness of the list. The summarized totals for these non-overlap, or not-on-list, operations were combined with summarized totals collected from a sample selected from the list to calculate additional indications of farms and land in farms.”

In 2025, the modeling effort incorporated historic trends and previous 10 years of survey estimates. This stop-gap approach allowed the data series to continue and was roughly consistent with prior year procedures when survey data were available.