Ag revenue jumped in Orleans County, NYS in latest census
Orleans County sees 50% jump to $233 million; Statewide farm economy at $8 billion
File photo by Tom Rivers: The mucklands in Barre and Clarendon provide fertile soil for onions, one of many crop grown in a diversified agricultural economy in Orleans County.
The federal ag census, which track’s the farm economy every five years, came out today and the numbers for 2022 and much bigger than the previous census for 2017.
In Orleans County, receipts for farm products sold totaled $233.63 million, up 50.4 percent from the $155.28 million in 2017, a growth of $78.35 million. That includes sales of fruit, vegetables, milk, livestock and other farm products.
Statewide the ag revenue was $8.04 billion in 2022, up by 49.7 percent from the $5.369 billion in 2017.
The revenue went up dramatically, and so did farm expenses. In Orleans County, production costs went up about $60 million from $119.00 million in 2017 to $179.90 million in 2022, a 51.2 percent hike, according to the ag census.
Statewide production costs increased by $1.85 billion from $4.33 billion in 2017 to $6.18 billion in 2022, up by 42.7 percent.
A snapshot of Orleans County’s ag economy in 2022 includes:
- 444 farms (498 in 2017)
- 130,055 land in agriculture (129,573 in 2017)
- average size of farm – 293 acres (260 in 2017)
- estimated value of land and buildings – $1.416 billion
- 33 farms at more than 1,000 acres, but 140 are 10 to 49 acres, and 131 are 50 to 179 acres.
- 132 farms sell less than $2,500, while 126 sell $100,000 or more.
