The States with the Most Farmland 🌾

What We're Showing

Each state's share of land area used by farms, using data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture as of February 2025.

Key Takeaways

• With over 876 million acres of farmland, 39% of all U.S. land area is devoted to farms.
• America's central strip of states, from North Dakota to Texas, are called the breadbasket of America and all have 75% of their land or more dedicated to farms.
• This is due to their generally flat landscapes and especially the fertile prairie soil of Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska that make them ideal for large-scale farming.
• With just 0.2% of its land dedicated to farmland, Alaska features a short but intense growing season (90-120 days) due to long summer daylight hours (up to 20+ hours of sun).

Half of New Mexico is Farmland?

The USDA's definition of farmland is more loose than what you might be picturing. Here's what they have to say about it: "Land in farms consists of agricultural land used for crops, pasture, or grazing. Also included is woodland and wasteland not actually under cultivation or used for pasture or grazing, provided it was part of the farm operator’s total operation. Land in farms includes acres in CRP, WRP, and other government conservation programs."

As you may've guessed, places like Nebraska are covered in farms (the conventional definition), whereas other places, like Colorado, are more likely to be home to ranches and land use that also falls under the USDA's definition of a farm.

Visit the source for more information.