The number of farms has leveled off at about 2.2 million

After peaking at 6.8 million farms in 1935, the number of U.S. farms fell sharply until leveling off in the early 1970s. Falling farm numbers during this period reflected growing productivity in agriculture and increased nonfarm employment opportunities. Because the amount of farmland did not decrease as much as the number of farms, the remaining farms have more acreage?on average, about 430 acres in 2012 versus 155 acres in 1935. Roughly 2.1 million farms are currently in operation

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