Number of Small Farms Increases Faster in Oregon than US

Oregon is adding more small farms and more farms with low sales

• Small farms (less than 10 acres) are the fastest growing farm size in the state and increased 7.6% from 2012 (increased 2.8% nationally)
• A higher percentage of all farms in Oregon are small farms with less than 10 acres (33.3% of all Oregon farms and 13.4% of all US farms)
• 43.5% of all Oregon farms reported total sales of less than $2,500; farms with this level of sales increased 17% since 2012

Oregon Gained Small and Very Large Farms, Now Has Fewer Mid-sized farms

• The number of farms 9 acres or less increased by 37 percent in Oregon from 2012-2017, these farms increased their total share of all Oregon farms 7.6 percentage points representing one quarter of all farms in 2012 to now representing one-third of all Oregon farms. This represents a net gain of 3,417 farm operations that are one to nine acres in size.
• The largest decrease of farms by size were those between 50 and 179 acres. The state has 881 fewer farms in this size category, a decline of 12.7 percent.
• The state also has 289 fewer farms sized 180 to 499 acres and 101 fewer farms 500 to 999 acres in size.
• The number of farms 2,000 or more acres in size increased by 1.4 percent and Oregon now has 21 additional very large farms.

Growth in Small Farms Drives Down Oregon’s Average Farm Size to 424

• 2017 average farm size more closely reflect 2002 values for both Oregon and the US
• Average farm size increased from 2007 to 2012 for both the US and Oregon – and increased further in Oregon
• The last 5 years reversed a trend of increasing average farm size for the state but not the nation

Half of all Oregon Farms are 20 acres or less; One-third of all Farms are 9 acres or less

• Oregon’s median farm size is 20 acres (75 acres nationally); Median farm size has been decreasing both nationally and in Oregon
• Oregon stands out from the US by having a much higher percent of small farms (33.3% of all Oregon farms and 13.4% of all US farms are 9 acres or less)
• Two thirds of all Oregon farms are less than 50 acres compared to 41.9% of all US farms
• Oregon and the US have a similar number of very large farms, over 2,000 acres (4.0% compared to 4.2%)
• 43% of all US farms are between 50 and 499 acres, in Oregon 23.2% of all farms fit into this size category