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USDA’s measure of principal-crop planted acreage fell from 329.899 million acres in 1998 to 311.541 million in 2025—a decrease of 18.358 million acres, or about 5.6%. Harvested acreage also declined, from 311.402 million to 295.542 million acres. These figures describe acreage for a defined group of crops, not a count of unique U.S. farmland parcels.
What “total crop acres” means in these figures
The clearest consistent series for this question is USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS), Principal Crops Area Planted and Harvested – United States. Its planted-area total sums acreage for a specified list of principal crops. NASS reports the source values in thousand acres; the table below expresses them in million acres, rounded to three decimals. USDA NASS, Crop Production Historical Track Records (April 2026).
This is an acreage total across crops, not a measure of unique land parcels or all U.S. cropland. NASS says the total includes double-cropped acres and unharvested small grains planted as cover crops. It also substitutes harvested acreage for all hay, tobacco, and sugarcane when calculating the planted-area total. As a result, land used to grow more than one crop in a year can contribute more than once to the crop-acre sum.
Planted and harvested acreage, 1998–2025
Planted acreage is the primary measure here; harvested acreage is shown alongside it as a related but distinct measure. Each figure is in million acres.
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| Year | Planted | Harvested |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 329.899 | 311.402 |
| 1999 | 329.255 | 311.967 |
| 2000 | 328.685 | 307.955 |
| 2001 | 324.584 | 303.560 |
| 2002 | 327.283 | 299.146 |
| 2003 | 325.693 | 307.400 |
| 2004 | 322.317 | 304.521 |
| 2005 | 317.640 | 303.566 |
| 2006 | 315.645 | 294.453 |
| 2007 | 320.369 | 304.376 |
| 2008 | 325.632 | 309.225 |
| 2009 | 319.022 | 301.172 |
| 2010 | 315.414 | 303.619 |
| 2011 | 314.343 | 292.652 |
| 2012 | 324.304 | 306.855 |
| 2013 | 324.937 | 303.764 |
| 2014 | 326.673 | 308.368 |
| 2015 | 319.047 | 304.814 |
| 2016 | 318.977 | 305.826 |
| 2017 | 318.340 | 301.779 |
| 2018 | 318.700 | 298.352 |
| 2019 | 302.063 | 283.652 |
| 2020 | 309.665 | 290.415 |
| 2021 | 316.398 | 298.151 |
| 2022 | 310.857 | 284.510 |
| 2023 | 319.542 | 295.043 |
| 2024 | 311.996 | 293.919 |
| 2025 | 311.541 | 295.542 |
How the series changed over the period
Endpoint comparison
From 1998 to 2025, planted acreage decreased by 18.358 million acres, about 5.6% of its 1998 level. Harvested acreage decreased by 15.860 million acres, about 5.1%. The percentages are calculated from the published endpoint values; they are not annual rates.
The path was uneven
The decline was not continuous. Planted acreage rose to 326.673 million acres in 2014 after reaching 315.645 million in 2006, then fluctuated in later years. Both planted and harvested acreage reached their lowest values in the requested period in 2019: 302.063 million planted and 283.652 million harvested acres. The planted figure was highest in 1998; harvested acreage was highest in 1999, at 311.967 million acres. These are highs and lows within 1998–2025, not all-time records.
Why this is not the same as total U.S. cropland
USDA Economic Research Service (ERS) uses a different land-use measure called total cropland used for crops. It combines cropland harvested, crop failure, and cultivated summer fallow. ERS defines cropland harvested in a way that removes double cropping, so land harvested more than once is counted once. That differs from the NASS principal-crop acreage sum, which includes double-cropped acres. USDA ERS, Major Land Uses: Documentation for Annual Update (updated March 13, 2026).
ERS annual updates draw on Census of Agriculture information, which provides more crop detail every five years, and annual NASS Crop Production summaries, which update acreage each year. The two series answer different questions: NASS totals acreage attributed to selected crops, while ERS estimates a broader cropland-use category. USDA ERS, Major Land Uses: Documentation for Annual Update.
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What the acreage figures do—and do not—tell you
NASS describes its crops/stocks survey as producing national and state estimates of acres planted and harvested, with operators reporting acreage by commodity. The consolidated historical table is useful for comparing the same measures across years. USDA NASS, Crops/Stocks Survey.
Quick Recap
Best Value
- Use planted acreage when asking how much area was attributed to planting the listed principal crops.
- Use harvested acreage when asking how much area was harvested for those crops; it is lower than planted acreage in most years, but not a direct measure of unique farmland.
- Use an ERS cropland-use measure when the question concerns broader land use, including crop failure and cultivated summer fallow.
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