Do you buy your groceries from a supermarket? How much of that food is grown and produced in Massachusetts? Is it easy to find out where it was produced? Are any marketing strategies misleading upon further investigation? Asking yourself these questions will help you better understand that our food system is global rather than local.
Every 5 years, the U.S. Department of Agriculture conducts a Census of Agriculture. Collecting data about farmers and their operations is critical to observe trends and ensure the sustainability of farming in the U.S. Eastie Farm took a deep dive into the 2022 Massachusetts Census of Agriculture to paint a picture of agriculture across the state and explain how we understand these food system trends.
Here’s what we found:
- Massachusetts has lost 672 farms between 2012 and 2022
Nationally and state-wide, we are losing farms, especially small and medium sized farms, because it is increasingly difficult to make farming profitable.
- Massachusetts has lost almost 12,000 acres of total cropland from 2017 to 2022.
That’s about 9,090 football fields of farmland!
- Between 2017 and 2022, Massachusetts lost about 9.5% of its acreage dedicated to growing vegetables while acreage for corn to be sold for grain increased by 36%.
Farmers are finding that diversified vegetable farms are less profitable than growing one specialty crop, which is typically sold for animal feed or further food processing. Growing only one crop year after year is called monocropping. While monocropping may be efficient in the short-term, growing the same crop takes nutrients out of the soil without replenishing it, which then requires the use of excessive amounts of fertilizer. Synthetic fertilizers are not the only chemical being used on these fields. Heavy pesticides are sprayed as well, as crop-specific pests run rampant in these fields year after year.
- More than half of all farmers had a primary occupation other than farming in 2022.
This further proves the point that farming in and of itself is no longer profitable for most farmers. The Economic Research Service found that only 16 cents of every dollar spent on food goes to farmers, while 84% of the profits fall to marketers and retailers.
- There were twice as many farmers 75 years and over as there are farmers between 25-34 years old in 2022.
In Massachusetts and beyond, there is a deficit of young farmers to take over quality farmland. This can be due to lack of farming skills and know-how, economic barriers to entry, and the increasing unpredictability of weather that make farming less enticing.
- In 2022, 12,861 farmers identified as white, while only 163 identified as Black or African American, 125 as more than one race, 108 as Asian, and 18 as American Indian or Alaska Native.
Farming in Massachusetts is still heavily dominated by white farmers. Land access is and always has been most attainable for whites.
- We lost over 13% of our organic farms in Massachusetts between 2017 and 2022.
As an organization that values land stewardship, Eastie Farm has fewer farmers to purchase from who are certified organic.
While it is clear that we are losing farmland and farmers, there are some inspiring metrics as well.
- Over 100 more women farmers became farm producers in the most recent 5-year period.
Agriculture has been dominated by men, making this an exciting statistic.
- 281 more farmers listed farming as their primary occupation in 2022 vs. 2017.
Although this doesn’t prove that these farmers are more financially stable, this may mean that these farmers had more time to dedicate to their fields.
- The number of producers of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin have remained consistent in the most recent 5-year period.
While we are losing farmers overall in Massachusetts, farmers who identify as Latinx have not followed the same trajectory.
- There is more acreage transitioning into the USDA National Organic Program in 2022 vs. 2017.
Some farms in Massachusetts are on their way to receiving the USDA organic certification.
Eastie Farm supports dozens of Massachusetts farms with our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). We purchase produce and other specialty goods from local farms who use sustainable growing practices, love their vocation, and want to continue to help feed Massachusetts. If you’d like to help us localize our food system and make sure that more money goes straight in the pockets of local farmers, please subscribe to our CSA today.
