Counties in Minnesota by farms

Stearns County had the highest farms of 87 counties in 2012, at 3,501. Cook County had the lowest, at 18. The median was 813 and the figure for Minnesota was 74,542. Source: the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Highest3,501Stearns County
Lowest18Cook County
Median81387 counties
Minnesota74,542History

Top 40 counties, 2012

Stearns County: 3,501 countStearns County3,501Otter Tail County: 3,033 countOtter Tail County3,033Morrison County: 1,957 countMorrison County1,957Todd County: 1,931 countTodd County1,931Fillmore County: 1,553 countFillmore County1,553Goodhue County: 1,536 countGoodhue County1,536Wright County: 1,463 countWright County1,463Polk County: 1,322 countPolk County1,322Kandiyohi County: 1,310 countKandiyohi County1,310Rice County: 1,304 countRice County1,304Redwood County: 1,163 countRedwood County1,163Olmsted County: 1,150 countOlmsted County1,150Marshall County: 1,148 countMarshall County1,148Meeker County: 1,147 countMeeker County1,147Freeborn County: 1,122 countFreeborn County1,122Winona County: 1,115 countWinona County1,115Becker County: 1,107 countBecker County1,107Douglas County: 1,091 countDouglas County1,091Blue Earth County: 1,070 countBlue Earth County1,070Renville County: 1,061 countRenville County1,061Brown County: 1,055 countBrown County1,055Mower County: 1,053 countMower County1,053Le Sueur County: 1,051 countLe Sueur County1,051Nobles County: 995 countNobles County995Roseau County: 977 countRoseau County977McLeod County: 966 countMcLeod County966Benton County: 958 countBenton County958Sibley County: 949 countSibley County949Pope County: 931 countPope County931Houston County: 920 countHouston County920Wabasha County: 909 countWabasha County909Lyon County: 904 countLyon County904Martin County: 897 countMartin County897Murray County: 895 countMurray County895Dakota County: 892 countDakota County892Yellow Medicine County: 885 countYellow Medicine County885Pine County: 870 countPine County870Lac qui Parle County: 852 countLac qui Parle County852Scott County: 847 countScott County847Isanti County: 844 countIsanti County844
count. Source: USDA NASS, Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022) via Data Commons. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Full ranking

RankCounties2012
count
1Stearns County3,501
2Otter Tail County3,033
3Morrison County1,957
4Todd County1,931
5Fillmore County1,553
6Goodhue County1,536
7Wright County1,463
8Polk County1,322
9Kandiyohi County1,310
10Rice County1,304
11Redwood County1,163
12Olmsted County1,150
13Marshall County1,148
14Meeker County1,147
15Freeborn County1,122
16Winona County1,115
17Becker County1,107
18Douglas County1,091
19Blue Earth County1,070
20Renville County1,061
21Brown County1,055
22Mower County1,053
23Le Sueur County1,051
24Nobles County995
25Roseau County977
26McLeod County966
27Benton County958
28Sibley County949
29Pope County931
30Houston County920
31Wabasha County909
32Lyon County904
33Martin County897
34Murray County895
35Dakota County892
36Yellow Medicine County885
37Pine County870
38Lac qui Parle County852
39Scott County847
40Isanti County844
41Chisago County832
42Jackson County826
43Faribault County824
44Cottonwood County813
45Waseca County805
46Clay County804
47Swift County801
48Steele County796
49Carver County789
50Nicollet County764
51Mille Lacs County731
52Lincoln County699
53Rock County689
54St. Louis County685
55Chippewa County674
56Kanabec County648
57Wadena County643
58Pipestone County637
59Hennepin County627
60Dodge County621
61Norman County610
62Washington County602
63Beltrami County573
64Stevens County560
65Cass County546
66Kittson County544
67Grant County542
68Crow Wing County533
69Clearwater County519
70Pennington County515
71Watonwan County503
72Carlton County501
73Aitkin County471
74Traverse County458
75Sherburne County455
76Hubbard County406
77Itasca County401
78Big Stone County400
79Anoka County396
80Wilkin County391
81Red Lake County322
82Mahnomen County310
83Lake of the Woods County196
84Koochiching County187
85Ramsey County97
86Lake County44
87Cook County18

Other periods

About this ranking

Places from which 1,000 dollars or more of agricultural products were produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census year, as counted by the USDA Census of Agriculture every five years.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the counties are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Census of Agriculture. Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022). Retrieved through Data Commons (datacommons.org). https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. (2026). Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022) (Counties in Minnesota by farms, 2012) [Data set]. Data Commons. Retrieved October 11, 2026, from https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/

MLA 9

Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022), Counties in Minnesota by farms, 2012. U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, 11 Oct. 2026, https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/. Data Commons, https://datacommons.org. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/farms/minnesota-counties?period=2012. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service. 2026. Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022). Counties in Minnesota by farms, 2012. Dataset. Distributed by Data Commons. Accessed October 11, 2026. https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/farms/minnesota-counties?period=2012.

Harvard

U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service (2026) Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022), Counties in Minnesota by farms, 2012 [Dataset]. Via Data Commons. Available at: https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/farms/minnesota-counties?period=2012 (Accessed: 11 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{department_counties_in_minnesota_by_2012,
  author = {{U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service}},
  title = {{Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022): Counties in Minnesota by farms, 2012}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  publisher = {Data Commons},
  url = {https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/},
  urldate = {2026-10-11},
  note = {Retrieved through Data Commons (https://datacommons.org). Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/farms/minnesota-counties?period=2012. Publisher attribution: Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Census of Agriculture. Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022). Retrieved through Data Commons (datacommons.org). https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service
TI  - Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022): Counties in Minnesota by farms, 2012
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/11
PB  - Data Commons
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/farms/minnesota-counties?period=2012
Y2  - 2026/10/11
N1  - Retrieved through Data Commons (https://datacommons.org).
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/farms/minnesota-counties?period=2012.
N1  - Publisher attribution: Source: USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, Census of Agriculture. Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022). Retrieved through Data Commons (datacommons.org). https://www.nass.usda.gov/AgCensus/. Retrieved 2026-10-11.
ER  - 
Embed this chart

Paste this code into a web page or a blog post. The chart shows the latest figures as they are published, with the source and a link back to this page.

Sites that read oEmbed links, such as WordPress, can show the chart when you paste the link to this page.

Use this data in your AI agent

Invokely serves this figure to AI assistants through MCP and to code through a REST API, with the source and citation attached. Ask your assistant:

Rank Counties in Minnesota by farms using official data, and cite the source.
rank_places {"indicator":"farms","level":"province","within":"Minnesota","limit":10}
GET https://invokely.ai/api/v1/rank?indicator=farms&level=province&within=Minnesota&limit=10

Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor in one step. The trial answers 25 calls a day without an account.

Questions

Which county has the highest farms?

Stearns County, with 3,501 in 2012, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Which county has the lowest farms?

Cook County, with 18 in 2012.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Agricultural Statistics Service, Census of Agriculture: number of farms, nation, states and counties (1997 to 2022). Retrieved 2026-10-11.

Farms: other rankings

Counties in Minnesota: more rankings