E-mail: nass-ny@nass.usda.gov
(518) 457-5570

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:  Stephen Ropel
Wednesday, February 4, 2009

www.nass.usda.gov/ny



                         2007 CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE

Final data from the 2007 Census of Agriculture placed New York farm numbers
at 36,352, down 2.4 percent from the 37,255 farms counted in 2002. Land in
farms totaled 7.17 million acres. This census indicated an increase in loss
of New York farmland as the 6.3 percent reduction in acreage between 2002
and 2007 represented annual losses of approximately 97,000 acres, well
above the rate experienced between 1997 and 2002.

New York's 36,352 farms counted in the 2007 Census of Agriculture accounted
for $4.42 billion worth of farm products sold in 2007. Concentration of
farming activities by larger operations continued its trend as the top 812
farms, 2.2 percent of all farms, accounted for just over 50 percent of all
farm sales. Farms with more than $100,000 of sales, 18.8 percent of the
total, accounted for 92 percent of New York's farm sales. In 2002, 17.3
percent of New York farms had over $100,000 of farm sales totaling slightly
over 86 percent of all products sold.

The Census, which is conducted every five years, provides facts and figures
on virtually every aspect of U.S. agriculture, including number and types
of farm operations, the economic aspects of farm production and the
demographics of U.S. farm operators.

Details on this and other Census data can be found on-line through the New
York NASS web site: www.nass.usda.gov/ny/. U.S., State and County tables
are available in PDF, Text, and CSV files. Printed copies will be available
along with the CD-ROMS and a searchable database. For further information
or assistance, please call the New York office at 800-821-1276 or send an
e-mail to: nass-ny@nass.usda.gov.

#

2-4-09