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The USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, which was released in February 2024, reported about a 1% increase in no-till acres in the U.S. compared to the 2017 census. Cover-cropped acres went up about 17%, while conservation tillage and conventional tillage acres both declined as of 2022. Source: 2022 Census of Agriculture, USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, February 2024

The U.S. saw a slight increase in no-tillage adoption during the past 5 years, despite declines in the number of overall farms and acres used for agriculture. This is according to data released by the 2022 U.S. Census of Agriculture and analyzed by No-Till Farmer. On a state level, 4 of the 7 Corn Belt states analyzed for this article reported increases in no-till acres.

Released every 5 years, the U.S. Census of Agriculture collects millions of data points about the U.S. agriculture industry from farmers and reports data on national, state and county levels. 

More No-Till, Fewer Farms 

Census data for 2022, the most recent survey, shows American farmers added more than 756,000 acres to no-tillage production since the 2017 census. In 2022, more than 105.2 million acres were in no-till production, compared to more than 104.45 million acres in 2017. 

More farms are also no-tilling, going from 279,370 no-till farms in 2017 to 300,954 no-till farms in 2022. Farms averaged 350 acres of no-till, a 24-acre decrease from the 2017 average and significantly lower than the 1,086-acre…