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102 Years of Change in the Number of Farms – US and Iowa

Keith Greiner

August 9, 2020

Since 1976, Iowa has celebrated farms that have been in the same family. Having one of these Century Farms is a testament to Iowans' commitment to the preservation of family farms. Unfortunately, the family farm is being replaced by big, less personal, corporate farms. We might think the consolidation of Farms and the reduction in the number of farms is more than a recent event. It has been going on for at least a century.

Data users can obtain helpful insight from analyses of long time series. In this example, we look at the change in the number of farms from 1910 through 2012. The comparison is similar to a population comparison that covers the period from 1910 through 2010. There is no 2010 data point for farms, so the two additional years of farm data are included as the closest available proximity to the 100-year series. With the range from 1910 to 2012, we have a span of 102 years.

The U.S. and Iowa have experienced remarkable changes since 1910. In 1910, the U. S. was still basically a horse and buggy society with the Model T Ford going into production in August 1908. Hay bailers were in use, but were simple compared to the automatic bailer that became more available in 1936. Farm equipment was just beginning to be powered by gasoline, instead of steam, as Charles Hart and Charles Parr established their gasoline powered tractor factory in Charles City, Iowa, in 1903. Fast forward through history, and we see the development of powerful and complex farm equipment; amazing national transportation systems that include highways, railroad, air transportation; and of course, the creation of computers, the Internet, and GIS/GPS technology applied to farming.

With all those changes, one would expect the world to show ever-increasing numbers of farms. However, the numbers tell a different story. In 1910, there were 6,366,044 farms in the U.S., and 217,044 farms in Iowa. By 2012, the number had declined to 2,109,303 in the U.S. and 88,637 in Iowa. That is a decline of 66.87% for the U. S. and a decline of 59.16% for Iowa.

The map shown below, highlights the greatest negative and positive changes the occurred in the U.S. over the long-term period of 102 years. The darker red shows the regions of greatest percentage decline in the number of farms. The darkest green (Alaska) shows the greatest percentage increase. Wyoming, Montana, and Nevada are shown in the middle category and are actually positive by a small amount. The middle category is a transition group that has mostly negative values and a few small positive values. See the second Excel sheet below. Here, we see the greatest declines were in the Eastern third of the nation, with the dark read indicators in the Southeast (except for Florida) and the far Northeast from New York to Maine. The mid-states region falls into the middle between gain and loss.

Now, lets look at the changes in Iowa. In this central state, the overall decline was 59.16%. Not a single Iowa county showed a positive change in the number of farms. Here, we see the greatest decline occurred in the southwestern quarter of the state, with the most intense decline in nine counties roughly centered around Pottawattamie. The least amount of decline is roughly in the top right third of the state. Four minimum loss counties are Delaware and Dubuque on the east vs. Sioux and Lyon in the northwestern quarter.

The two graphs, below, show us the number of farms over time, and show that the trend has not been completely linear. Additional information on the long-term trends may be found at this link. First is the U. S. Graph...

... and below is the Iowa graph.

The Excel sheet image, shown below, presents the Iowa counties sorted by percent change with the greatest negative percent change (Polk county) at the top, and the smallest negative percent change (Lyon county) at the bottom. Most of the southwestern states are near the top of the list.

The format used for these two Excel sheet images, includes yellow borders at top and on the left. This follows a style used in the Excel Statistics Guide. On that site, it is used to help explain how calculations are made. For those who ma wish to use an Excel sheet in a Google Site, the process has two steps. First, copy from Excel, paste to Word, and then copy again and paste to Google Sites. Some adjustments may be necessary.

The US rank is shown below. Here, we see that the States of Maine and Mississippi have the greatest decline in the percentage of farms, compared to Arizona and Alaska that have had substantial increases.

Additional information may be found at this link.

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