The Census of Agriculture
is a complete count of U.S. farms* and ranches and the people who operate them. Even small plots of land - whether rural or urban - count if $1,000 or more of such products were raised and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year. The Census of Agriculture, taken only once every five years, looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures. For America’s farmers and ranchers, the Census of Agriculture is their voice, their future, and their opportunity. This
Data from the 2022 Census of Agriculture is now available. All Census of Agriculture data can also be accessed using NASS’s searchable database, Quick Stats.
2017 - Full Report and other online resources
2017 Census of Agriculture - Full Report (PDF Issued April 2019)
2017 New York State-Level Data
2017 New York County-Level Data
2017 - Columbia County County Profile (PDF)
2017 Agricultural Census Query Tool
PREVIOUS CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE
2012 - Full Report and other online resources
2007 - Full Report and other online resources
*Farm Definition: The agriculture census definition of a farm is any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year. The definition has changed nine times since it was established in 1850. The current definition was first used for the 1974 Census of Agriculture and was used in each subsequent census of agriculture. This definition is consistent with the definition used for current USDA surveys. The farm definition used for each U.S. territory varies. The report for each territory includes a discussion of its farm definition.
LEGAL AUTHORITY The 2022 Census of Agriculture is required by law under the “Census of Agriculture Act of 1997,” Public Law 105113 (Title 7, United States Code, Section 2204g). The law directs the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a census of agriculture every fifth year. The census of agriculture includes every State, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa.
2022 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE is the 30th Federal census of agriculture and the sixth conducted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). The U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census conducted the census of agriculture for 156 years (1840-1996). The 1997 Appropriations Act contained a provision that transferred the responsibility for the census of agriculture to NASS.