Table 1. Historical Highlights: 2012 and Earlier Census Years 
[For meaning of abbreviations and symbols, see introductory text.] 
All farms 
2012 
2007 
2002 
1997 
Not adjusted for coverage 
1997 
1992 
1987 
1982 
Farms 
... number 
50,218 
52,913 
53,930 
59,120 
49,406 
51,854 
59,284 
72,792 
Land in farms 
acres 
8,414,756 
8,474,671 
9,079,001 
9,444,867 
9,122,379 
8,936,015 
9,447,705 
10,320,832 
Average size of farm 
acres 
168 
160 
168 
160 
185 
172 
159 
142 
Estimated market value of 
land and buildings 
Average per farm 
dollars 
726,944 
656,080 
518,719 
349,841 
375,895 
269,000 
199,781 
187,840 
Average per acre 
dollars 
4,338 
4,096 
3,088 
2,127 
2,081 
1,573 
1,263 
1,314 
Estimated market value of all 
machinery and equipment 1 
....$1,000 
4,664,336 
4,063,115 
3,327,385 
2,801,685 
2,425,402 
1,991,218 
1,799,492 
2,097,628 
Average per farm 
dollars 
92,887 
76,793 
63,902 
47,411 
49,106 
38,452 
30,403 
28,932 
Farms by size: 
1 to 9 acres 
4,155 
5,001 
4,405 
5,505 
3,968 
4,651 
5,253 
6,682 
1 0 to 49 acres 
20,014 
20,772 
20,207 
21,075 
15,601 
15,852 
18,088 
23,286 
50 to 1 79 acres 
17,260 
17,830 
19,011 
21,033 
18,259 
19,366 
22,680 
28,120 
1 80 to 499 acres 
5,387 
5,786 
6,398 
7,491 
7,506 
8,007 
9,337 
10,914 
500 to 999 acres 
1,706 
1,862 
2,146 
2,405 
2,461 
2,564 
2,676 
2,690 
1 ,000 to 1 ,999 acres 
1,067 
1,108 
1,212 
1,133 
1,133 
1,054 
938 
823 
2,000 acres or more 
629 
554 
551 
478 
478 
360 
312 
277 
Total cropland 
farms 
37,247 
39,879 
45,268 
51,477 
44,502 
47,497 
54,972 
68,439 
acres 
4,745,014 
4,895,204 
5,472,128 
5,701,023 
5,608,388 
5,578,191 
5,716,256 
5,950,1 55 
Harvested cropland 
farms 
32,802 
32,803 
36,622 
43,225 
38,241 
42,135 
50,108 
63,392 
acres 
4,378,097 
4,188,658 
4,308,209 
4,269,966 
4,233,693 
3,998,685 
3,779,164 
4,659,283 
Irrigated land 
farms 
4,699 
5,788 
6,721 
5,059 
4,695 
4,337 
6,445 
4,026 
acres 
174,526 
232,075 
264,057 
156,315 
156,250 
112,630 
137,858 
81,078 
Market value of agricultural 
products sold (see text) 
....$1,000 
12,588,142 
10,313,628 
6,961,686 
7,832,362 
7,676,523 
4,834,218 
3,541,419 
3,500,750 
Average per farm 
dollars 
250,670 
194,917 
129,087 
132,482 
155,376 
93,227 
59,737 
48,093 
Crops, including nursery 
and greenhouse crops 
....$1,000 
4,302,877 
2,606,279 
2,008,634 
2,600,655 
2,595,213 
1,996,452 
1,436,988 
1,898,109 
Livestock, poultry, and 
their products 
....$1,000 
8,285,265 
7,707,350 
4,953,052 
5,231,707 
5,081,310 
2,837,765 
2,104,430 
1,602,642 
Farms by value of sales 2 : 
Less than $2,500 
19,294 
22,608 
22,096 
19,819 
13,653 
12,616 
16,758 
19,845 
$2,500 to $4,999 
5,891 
5,863 
6,350 
8,425 
6,642 
7,250 
8,461 
9,958 
$5,000 to $9,999 
6,307 
5,805 
5,925 
7,052 
6,261 
6,968 
8,344 
9,720 
$10,000 to $24,999 
5,579 
5,828 
5,858 
6,970 
6,470 
7,641 
8,515 
11,056 
$25,000 to $49,999 
2,870 
2,765 
2,702 
3,669 
3,470 
4,397 
4,817 
6,948 
$50,000 to $99,999 
1,946 
1,718 
2,208 
2,900 
2,764 
3,640 
4,271 
6,246 
$100,000 to $499,999 
3,256 
3,720 
5,209 
6,435 
6,321 
7,254 
7,034 
8,237 
$500,000 or more 
5,075 
4,606 
3,582 
3,850 
3,825 
2,088 
1,084 
741 
Farms by legal status for tax 
purposes (see text): 
Family or individual 
43,563 
45,766 
48,672 
51,913 
42,887 
45,273 
52,398 
64,150 
Partnership 
3,132 
4,246 
3,209 
4,663 
4,166 
4,750 
5,238 
7,092 
Corporation 
3,035 
2,625 
1,823 
2,280 
2,126 
1,589 
1,355 
1,225 
Other-cooperative, estate 
or trust, institutional, etc 
488 
276 
226 
264 
227 
242 
293 
325 
Principal operator by days of work 
off farm 3 : 
None 
20,047 
19,602 
26,420 
22,514 
19,960 
21,464 
23,261 
27,579 
Any 
30,171 
33,311 
27,510 
32,450 
25,856 
25,958 
31,914 
37,303 
200 days or more 
19,553 
20,711 
19,808 
23,045 
18,028 
17,989 
21,702 
24,717 
Principal operator by primary occupation: 
Farming 
24,574 
24,244 
31,669 
26,958 
24,355 
27,376 
30,687 
39,795 
Other 
25,644 
28,669 
22,261 
32,162 
25,051 
24,478 
28,597 
32,997 
Average age of principal operator 
years 
58.9 
57.3 
56.1 
54.8 
55.2 
54.7 
53.3 
51.7 
Total farm production 
expenses 1 
....$1,000 
10,061,152 
8,309,765 
5,645,471 
6,240,498 
5,673,379 
3,817,833 
2,779,353 
(NA) 
Selected farm production 
expenses ': 
Livestock and poultry purchased 
or leased 
....$1,000 
1,397,510 
1,666,076 
1,049,514 
965,030 
916,191 
431,873 
323,978 
229,516 
Feed purchased 
....$1,000 
4,121,552 
3,183,993 
1,917,997 
2,523,838 
2,262,032 
1,288,719 
921,654 
702,666 
Fertilizer, lime, and soil 
conditioners purchased 4 5 
....$1,000 
555,515 
376,476 
238,389 
268,306 
243,960 
233,479 
179,396 
238,315 
Gasoline, fuels, and oils purchased 
....$1,000 
417,600 
332,524 
170,533 
219,694 
198,201 
184,299 
143,686 
235,621 
Hired farm labor 
....$1,000 
765,886 
623,130 
552,486 
536,818 
487,395 
388,338 
287,037 
245,364 
Interest expense 6 
....$1,000 
207,217 
176,525 
164,828 
226,795 
205,129 
143,502 
130,580 
206,549 
Chemicals purchased 4 
....$1,000 
416,980 
228,484 
220,109 
210,814 
188,784 
151,341 
107,655 
111,631 
Livestock and poultry: 
Cattle and calves 
inventory 
farms 
19,548 
19,229 
23,784 
27,558 
22,632 
22,718 
24,985 
30,485 
number 
829,717 
820,182 
848,061 
959,830 
941,311 
901,980 
784,136 
890,480 
Beef cows 
farms 
16,059 
14,895 
20,461 
22,664 
19,616 
19,531 
20,630 
24,286 
number 
348,196 
373,024 
418,315 
424,537 
435,672 
385,428 
320,641 
342,296 
Milk cows 
farms 
571 
463 
1,250 
1,304 
1,092 
1,552 
2,336 
4,353 
number 
45,960 
47,589 
63,427 
79,357 
78,400 
99,291 
110,127 
125,832 
Cattle and calves sold 
farms 
15,312 
15,953 
18,584 
24,803 
21,286 
20,771 
22,682 
25,272 
number 
435,411 
463,680 
415,561 
462,829 
443,147 
399,035 
395,732 
378,660 
Hogs and pigs inventory 
farms 
2,217 
2,836 
2,542 
3,582 
2,986 
4,311 
6,921 
1 1 ,390 
number 
8,901,434 
10,134,004 
9,887,421 
9,631,290 
9,624,860 
5,100,979 
2,547,127 
2,047,098 
Hogs and pigs sold 
farms 
1,833 
2,459 
2,332 
3,054 
2,666 
4,012 
6,290 
9,436 
number 
34,456,613 
43,241,680 
42,018,621 
36,451,580 
36,431,039 
10,776,400 
5,180,960 
3,907,278 
See footnote(s) at end of table. -continued 
2012 Census of Agriculture - State Data 
USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service 
North Carolina 7 
