Losing Ground

The report analyzes the trend of farmland consolidation—the shift toward larger, fewer farms—and its role in hollowing out rural communities. It finds that consolidation creates significant barriers for new farmers, particularly in the Midwest, and has disproportionately harmed Black farmers through a combination of market pressures and systemic racism. The author argues that reversing this trend is essential for rural revitalization and social equity, recommending national initiatives for land transition and the redress of historical land theft from BIPOC farmers.

• Farmland consolidation in the United States is characterized by a steady decrease in the number of farms and an increase in average farm size, driven by capital-intensive agriculture and government policies that favor large operations. Between 1978 and 2017, harvested cropland on large farms (1,000 acres or larger) nearly doubled nationally, while in rural Midwest counties, it more than quintupled.
• The 'hollowing out' of US agriculture is evidenced by the drastic loss of midsize farms (50 to 999 acres). Nationally, midsize crop farms decreased by approximately half in both number and acreage, losing over 690,000 farms and more than 96 million acres.
• Farmland consolidation is strongly associated with increased barriers for new farmers in the rural Midwest. In counties with faster consolidation, the share of new farmers (those with less than five years of experience) declined 56 percent faster than in counties with slower consolidation. Additionally, average farmer age rose 26 percent faster and average years of experience increased 34 percent faster in these high-consolidation areas.
• Black farmers have been disproportionately affected by consolidation and systemic racism, experiencing a 98 percent reduction in their numbers between 1920 and 2017, compared to a 65 percent decline for White farmers. The report notes that land theft has robbed the Black community of an estimated $3.7 to $6.6 billion in property and income.
• Analysis of state-level data from 1978 to 2017 shows that states with higher levels of farmland consolidation tended to drop in rank regarding their proportion of Black farmers, while states with less consolidation tended to rise in rank.
• The cost of farmland rose an average of 67 percent nationally between 1978 and 2017 after inflation adjustments. In the Midwest, farmland value in rapidly consolidating counties crashed 118 percent faster than in slower consolidating counties between 1978 and 1997, but then rose 21 percent faster between 1997 and 2017.

APA

Ferguson, R. (2021). Losing Ground. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/losing-ground-final-4-15-21.pdf

Chicago

Ferguson, Rafter. Losing Ground. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2021. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/losing-ground-final-4-15-21.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Ferguson |first1=Rafter |title=Losing Ground |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=April 2021 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/losing-ground-final-4-15-21.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{ferguson2021losing, author = {Ferguson, Rafter}, title = {{Losing Ground}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2021}, month = apr, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2021-04/losing-ground-final-4-15-21.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }