Lee County had 629 farms in 2022, down from 830 in 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2022 county profile. By The Lee Daily Register’s count from the USDA’s full county tables, a net drop of 141 farms of 10 to 49 acres accounts for 70% of that loss.
The USDA’s county profile reports each census year on its own page. The change-by-size table, herd shares and neighbor comparisons below are our own work, built from the 2022 county tables and the 2017 profile. The census counts farms in each year and does not follow individual farms, so these are net changes.
Most of the loss came from farms of 10 to 49 acres
| Farm size | 2017 | 2022 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 9 acres | 32 | 39 | +7 |
| 10 to 49 acres | 304 | 163 | -141 |
| 50 to 179 acres | 370 | 303 | -67 |
| 180 to 499 acres | 93 | 102 | +9 |
| 500 to 999 acres | 26 | 12 | -14 |
| 1,000 acres or more | 5 | 10 | +5 |
| All farms | 830 | 629 | -201 |
Sales point the same way. Farms that sold less than $25,000 of products fell from 725 to 525, while farms selling $25,000 or more went from 105 to 104, according to the 2017 and 2022 profiles. Those classes use unadjusted dollars, so some farms may have moved between them.
Total land in farms fell 6%, or 5,718 acres, to 89,186 acres. Because acreage fell less than the farm count, the average farm grew from 114 acres to 142.
Fewer cattle farms, bigger herds
Cattle are the county’s main farm product. Cattle and calves brought in $9.1 million in 2022, or 59% of the county’s $15.4 million in farm sales, according to the 2022 profile. Farms with cattle fell 27%, from 536 to 391, but the herd shrank only 13%, from 21,915 head to 19,088, per Table 11 of the county tables.
The largest herds now hold more of the cattle. By our calculation from that table, 17 farms with 200 or more head (4% of cattle farms) held 37% of the county’s cattle in 2022. In 2017, 15 such farms held 31%. Farms with fewer than 20 head made up 44% of cattle farms but held 9% of the animals.
Lee farms sold 11,304 head in 2022 for $9.1 million, about $809 a head. In 2017 they sold 13,687 head for $11.0 million, about $805. That is a rough average that mixes calves with older cattle, not a market price.
Hay up, corn and tobacco down
Hay and haylage acres rose 5% to 18,347, even as the number of farms harvesting them fell from 557 to 457, according to Table 26. By our calculation, that equals about 95% of the 19,246 acres of cropland harvested in the county. Corn for grain fell from 1,003 acres to 480, and vegetables harvested from 165 acres to 47, per the two profiles.
Two farms reported growing tobacco in 2022, against 10 farms and 91 acres in 2017, according to Table 25. USDA withheld the 2022 acreage to avoid identifying individual operations.
Sales stayed flat while land prices rose
Total sales were $15.4 million, up 1% from $15.3 million in 2017, while Virginia’s rose 39%, by our calculation from the state table. Crop sales climbed 38% to $5.5 million and livestock sales fell 12% to $9.9 million. Farm spending dropped 11%, to $15.5 million, and about $1.97 million of that $2.0 million decline was livestock and poultry purchases (Table 3). Dollar figures here are as reported; we did not adjust them for inflation.
Operators estimated the value of their land and buildings at $3,526 an acre, up 33% from $2,646, according to Table 8. Net cash farm income was $780,000 against $537,000, while government payments fell from $1.66 million to $30,000.
An older group of operators, more farms online
The census counted 985 producers in 2022 against 1,244 in 2017, with up to four counted per farm. Those 65 or older made up 45%, up from 37%. The average age rose from 58.4 to 59.8, according to Table 45 in the 2017 county tables and the 2022 tables.
Farm internet use rose too. Of 629 farms, 449 (71%) reported internet access, up from 62%, and 342 of them reported broadband such as DSL, cable or fiber. Farms could report more than one connection type.
How Lee compares with Scott, Wise and Virginia
Lined up against neighbors, Lee had the steepest farm loss of the three counties, but Wise lost far more land and cattle than Lee did. The figures come from the Scott and Wise county profiles and the 2022 county tables.
| Measure (2022, change since 2017) | Lee | Scott | Wise | Virginia |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farms | 629 (-24%) | 1,070 (-6%) | 120 (-18%) | 38,995 (-10%) |
| Land in farms | -6% | -0.4% | -43% | -6% |
| Average farm, acres (2017) | 142 (114) | 117 (110) | 126 (179) | 187 (180) |
| Cattle and calves | -13% | -10% | -65% | -14% |
| Sales of farm products | +1% | +15% | -14% | +39% |
| Land and buildings, per acre | $3,526 (+33%) | $3,600 (+37%) | $3,671 (+19%) | $5,303 (+15%) |
| Farms with internet (2017) | 71% (62%) | 68% (70%) | 77% (66%) | 77% (74%) |
| Average operator age (2017) | 59.8 (58.4) | 60.7 (58.3) | 58.5 (57.9) | 59.2 (58.5) |
Virginia’s percentages are our calculations from the state table. The census tables count farms and acres but give no reasons for closures or mergers, so the causes of these shifts are not in the data.
