Census: Minnesota farms are growing

Connor Danielson’s inspiration for farming was his grandfather, even though his grandfather had retired before Danielson was born.

“He kept some of his equipment, and I would always follow him around,” says Danielson, who is a student at Ridgewater College in Willmar, Minn.

He also spent a lot of time at his uncle’s hobby farm. “I kind of grew up out there, so that got me into farming,” he says.

Danielson started helping neighbors in the Atwater area, at first picking rocks. Then he helped another neighbor who needed part-time help through the summer with chickens, among other things.

That was in 2018, and that farmer said he would help Danielson farm some land if he could find some to rent.

Danielson went back to the farmer he originally picked rocks for to see about renting some land, “so he rented me 11 acres that year,” says Danielson, who used that land as the basis for his FFA supervised agricultural experience project that earned him a trip to the National FFA Convention.

Data from the 2022 ag census that was released in February shows Danielson fits into a couple of boxes, as Minnesota farms of all sizes grew from 2017, including those on the small size.

While many bemoan the loss of small farms, the number of farms with 1 to 9 acres grew from 1,974 five years ago to 2,189 in 2022. Farms with 500 acres or more grew from 2,183 in 2017 to 2,599 in 2022.

Farms with 10 to 49 acres grew from 4,365 to 5,672; 50 to 179 acres grew from 4,741 to 5,305; and the farms with 180 to 499 acres grew from 2,869 in 2017 to 3,149 farms in this latest census.

The average-sized farm in Minnesota is 388 acres in 2022, up from 371 in 2017.

Aging, but youth movement

While the Minnesota farmer continues to age from 56.5 in 2017 to 57.1 in 2022, and all age categories saw growth, there is also hope, as about 500 people younger than 25 were added to the ranks since the last census.

While Danielson may not be the stereotypical starting farmer in Minnesota, he shares the same dreams with many young farmer hopefuls across the Gopher State.

“If I could farm full time right now, I would do it,” he says, “but I don’t have that option at this point in time.”

Knowing full-time farming is not currently an option for him, Danielson is working toward an associate degree in ag mechanics as a fallback, but that also will serve him well on the farm.

“I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands, working on the equipment, and I’ve always enjoyed putzing with my own equipment, so I decided to go to school for it, and then I could use this on the farm if I ever do get the opportunity to farm full time. … It’s almost impossible to get into because it’s really expensive, so this way I can live off this income, and I can use it to help me farm.”

Of the 114,000-plus total farmers in Minnesota, more than 68,000 worked off the farm, with over 45,000 working 200 days or more off the farm to supplement their farm income. Almost 64,000 producers considered off-farm employment to be their main occupation.