2022 USDA Census NC · FIPS 37045 Upper-middle by state sales TRACE MIXED

Cleveland County, North Carolina - Farm Data

Agricultural and commodity intelligence for Cleveland County. Ranked #28 of 100 counties in North Carolina.

Agricultural land composition · 2022 USDA Census · data refreshed 2026-05-15
104,633 acres of agricultural land
Cropland
43.0% 45,000 acres
Other land
57.0% 59,633 acres
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USDA NASS · 2022 Census of Agriculture

Cleveland County received $2.08 in Census government payments per agricultural acre, 0.2× the North Carolina county median of $12.60.

According to the USDA NASS 2022 Census of Agriculture.

$2.08
government payments per agricultural acre
$12.60
North Carolina county median per acre
0.17×
North Carolina median per acre

Payments per acre use the same NASS county table for receipts and acreage. Census county totals are not a roll-up of the USDA ERS state payment series.

According to the 2022 USDA NASS Census of Agriculture, Cleveland County, North Carolina is a MIXED county with federal farm payments per acre that stamp TRACE; commodity sales sit above state median and it shows low federal dependence.

Farm operations

872

Avg 120 ac / farm

Commodity sales

$214.6M

2.4× state median -- Above state median

Federal payments

$218K

0.1% of sales -- Low federal dependence

Net farm income

$84.4M

2022 cash income -- Well above-typical net income

B

Farm economy grade: B -- Cleveland County's net farm income sits at the 81th percentile among 3,046 NASS-reporting counties nationally (2022 Census). Percentile-benchmarked, not a same-state comparison like the tier label above.

What the Cleveland County Farm Data Shows

Cleveland County, North Carolina reads as a MIXED county with TRACE federal payment intensity. In the NASS Census vocabulary this portal uses, cropland is 25% to 50% of agricultural land with the balance in pasture, range, woodland or farmsteads, so row-crop and livestock-side programs are both in play; payments per agricultural acre fall in the lowest national quintile, under $3.41 an acre, so program receipts are a marginal line beside market revenue.

The state comparisons on this page use the 98 of 100 North Carolina counties with published commodity sales (2 withheld by NASS to protect respondents are left out, not counted as zero), averaging the two central values when the count is even. Payments per acre use the 95 counties that report both receipts and acreage, and net-income peers are the 92 that reported a profit.

Pair the payment peers below before treating any single county as representative of North Carolina.

What to do with this

Three places to go next from Cleveland County, North Carolina:

County figures (2022 NASS Census of Agriculture) are a separate population from USDA ERS state and national payment series and must not be summed together.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many farms are in Cleveland County, North Carolina?
Cleveland County, North Carolina has 872 farms (2022 USDA Census). Average farm size 120 acres; land stamp MIXED.
What is the total agricultural production value of Cleveland County?
Cleveland County's total commodity sales are $214.6M (2022 Census of Agriculture), ranking #28 among 100 counties in North Carolina.
How much federal farm assistance does Cleveland County receive?
Cleveland County received $218K in federal government farm program receipts (2022), stamping TRACE on NASS payments-per-acre ($2.08/acre) with a MIXED land mix.
What is the net farm income in Cleveland County?
Net cash farm income for operations in Cleveland County is $84.4M (2022 Census of Agriculture).

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service 2022 Census of Agriculture · 2022

Dollar values reflect calendar year 2022 farm operations data.

PlainFarmData is an independent data portal, not affiliated with USDA, FSA, or any government agency. For official program eligibility or application guidance, contact your local USDA Farm Service Agency office.

Intensity stamp TRACE · land stamp MIXED (NASS payments-per-acre / cropland share bands).

NASS withholds commodity sales for 2 North Carolina counties with too few farm operations to publish without identifying individual producers. Those counties are excluded from the peer median on this page rather than counted as zero sales.

County farm figures on this page are rendered from the USDA NASS 2022 Census of Agriculture, no number is typed in by an editor. Census county totals are not a roll-up of the USDA ERS state payment series. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.