Farming

 Ecowatch - The latest Census of Agriculture from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) raises concerns over a loss of small farms and a growth in larger farms, while also showing some promise with the growth of renewable energy implementation in agriculture. The USDA completes a Census of Agriculture every five years to count the nation’s farms and ranches. The latest census, the 2022 Census of Agriculture, revealed that 39% of U.S. land is covered by farms and ranches. The number of farms and ranches is around 1.9 million, a decrease of 7% from the previous 2017 census. While the number of farms decreased, the size of each farm increased 5% to an average of 463 acres.  Most of the farmland, nearly three-fourths, was used for two primary reasons: oilseed and grain production and beef cattle production. Beef cattle production comprised 40% of land use. According to an analysis from Food & Water Watch, the number of animals in factory farms is now around 1.7 billion, up 6% since the last census and 47% since 2002, while the number of small-size dairy farms is only about one-third of the number of smaller dairy farms in 2002.