2012 Census of Agriculture Published

We’ve been waiting for the state and county-level data to be published by the United States Department of Agriculture, and it’s finally here. USDA published the data yesterday, and we’ve taken a quick look to see what has changed in Clackamas County.

The USDA news release is available online and the extensive census data can be selected and downloaded from USDA’s website.

While our review of the data has not been exhaustive, certain things do stand out.

• Clackamas County has more farms (3,745) than any other county in Oregon.
• We have the smallest average farm size (43 acres) of any county in Oregon.
• We have more women farm operators (2,450) than any other county.
• We’re in second place for horses and ponies with 5,504 animals. First place goes to Wasco County with 6,159 animals. That means we lead western Oregon in equines.
• We’re number one for cut Christmas trees by a big margin: 538 farms with 15,951 acres of trees in production in Clackamas, compared to the next largest county (Marion) with 197 farms and 11,298 acres in production.
• Cattle production has increased but on fewer farms.
• The number of hogs and pigs has decreased, as has production of sheep and lambs.
• The number of orchards has increased, and more acres are planted in orchards.