Texas farmland declined by more than 1.6 million acres with a loss of over 17,700 farms, according to the latest Census of Agriculture.

As of 2022, there were 125,417,325 acres of Texas land dedicated to farming and ranching compared to 127,036,184 five years ago.

Texas lost about 887 acres per day, according to ag census data.

And the number of farms decreased from 248,416 to 230,662.

It’s a trend that U.S. agriculture follows. ­

There are slightly more than 1.9 million farms in the U.S., down 142,000 or 7% from the previous survey.

“The downward trend of the number of farms in Texas and the U.S. has been taking place for decades,” said Brant Wilbourn, Texas Farm Bureau associate director of Commodity and Regulatory Activities. “Rising costs, weather disasters, increased regulations and lack of available labor have made agricultural production difficult to remain economically sustainable.”

It’s a concern U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack noted in his speech at the American Farm Bureau Federation last month.

“This survey is essentially telling us, asking us the critical question of whether as a country are we okay with losing that many farms,” Vilsack said. “Are we okay with losing that much farmland, or is there a better way?”

In his speech, he encouraged farmers to consider generating additional revenue through climate-smart initiatives and bioproduct production, especially as the ag census notes many farmers rely on second incomes outside of the farm.

The average farm size, however, increased in both Texas and the U.S.

In Texas, the average farm size is 544 acres, up from 511 in 2017. In the U.S., the average farm size is 463 acres, an increase of about 23 acres.

“The increased farm size could be attributed to some consolidation within agriculture as some farmers left the industry over the last five years,” Wilbourn said.

The number of new and beginning farmers has increased, which is encouraging news, Wilbourn noted. But the latest census results show the number of farmers over the age of 65 is outpacing younger farmers.

“Agriculture has endured this trend for many decades, but this data shows there’s still interest in younger generations, and we’re excited about the impact they’ll make,” Wilbourn said.

According to the ag census, the average U.S. farmer is 58.1 years old. In Texas, the average age is 59.9 years old.

There are 481,821 new and beginning farmers with five years of experience or less in the U.S. In Texas, that number is 59,856.

There were 245,585 male and 157,291 female farmers in Texas at the time the census was taken.

In the U.S., 1.2 million female farmers and ranchers accounted for 36% of all producers, and 57% of all farms had at least one female decision maker.

Commodity stats
U.S. farms and ranches produced $543 billion in agricultural products, up from $389 billion in 2017.

Texas remains the state with the most farms and is ranked third in total value of agricultural production behind California and Iowa at $32.2 billion.

Texas remains a top producer of cattle, cotton, sheep, goats, horses, and dry hay, excluding alfalfa.

Texas cotton production accounts for 22% of the total U.S. cotton value of production, and cattle and calf production accounts for 17% of the total value of production.

The number of acres of most crops decreased on this census, which is likely due to the ongoing drought conditions Texas experienced during the survey period.

“These prolonged dry conditions have prevented planting of many acres across the state,” Wilbourn said. “That’s really drawn down total production when you combine it with decreased yields from the dry years.”

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PRUNING FRUIT TREES

Fruit trees are pruned to train trees for production of the greatest yield and highest quality fruit. Among the fruit trees requiring pruning are peaches, apricots, apples, pears, and quince. Of these, pears and quince require the least pruning, while peaches require the most.

Pruning is not training. Training fruit trees to a strong framework is done by establishing scaffold branches, the primary limbs radiating from the trunk of a tree. Today we’re discussing two very different training systems, that of peach and pear.

The first is the “open vase” or “open center” approach that is recommended for peaches, as the center is open, allowing the sun to penetrate the interior of the tree. This system involves techniques that develop two to four — preferably three — scaffold branches that arise near each other on the trunk, about equal in size.

Branches with narrow crotches have forks that often split when bearing a heavy fruit load; therefore, leave scaffolds that have wide angles of 60 to 90 degrees spaced equally around the trunk, arising at as low as 24 inches from the ground. Small and secondary limbs with growth directed to the inside of the canopy should be removed from the center, thus creating an open vase.

Four Steps to Prune a Mature Peach Tree:

1. Remove all hanger shoots, rootstock suckers, and water sprouts in the lower three feet of the tree. This removal of lower growth clears a path for herbicide applications and allows for air circulation.

2. Remove all shoots above seven feet in height other than red 18 – 24-inch fruiting shoots. Cuts need to be at selected points where the scaffold and sub-scaffold limbs extend up-ward at a 45 – 50-degree angle. Cuts which leave limbs sideways at a 90-degree angle should be avoided.

3. Remove all water sprouts (excessively vigor-ous growth) which grow toward the inside of the tree.

4. Remove all old gray wood in the three to seven-foot production zone.

Late-spring frost is the single greatest factor in Texas peach production and pruning early in the year removes much of the flower bud crop that constitutes “insurance” against crop loss. The peach tree will bloom soon after pruning when chilling is satisfied, and warm weather follows. Growers with only a few trees can wait until “pink bud” to prune while larger growers traditionally prune as late in the spring as they can while still allowing for enough time to complete the task. Mature peach trees often take 20 to 30 minutes to prune properly.

The second training system is for pears, which require very light pruning. Even light pruning may induce water sprouts and fast-growing terminal growth. Such growth will be vegetative and will not bear fruit but more critically, is susceptible to fire blight infection. For pears, restrict pruning cuts to branches that rub each other and to water sprouts as they appear.

To train pear trees, spread scaffolds of young trees by bending upright-growing branches to a wide angle and holding them there with properly cut lengths of wood, such as dowels or wood pieces used as spreader-sticks. In each end of the spreader-stick, drive a small nail in to half its length. Cut the head of the nail off at an angle, leaving a sharp point. The pointed nail in each end is used to hold the spreader in place. After several seasons, the limbs will no longer need the spreader-sticks to maintain a wide angle. Spreading branches is an essential practice with most pear, sweet cherry and apple trees.