The latest Farm and Land in Farms report from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) shows the US lost 1.3 million acres of farmland in 2021. The total land in farms decreased from 896,600,000 acres in 2020 to 895,300,000 acres in 2021. Farmland acreage has decreased by over 13.62 million acres since 2014, an average loss of over 1.9 million acres per year. Why Farmland is Shrinking: Agricultural land being converted into new developments is one of the primary causes of the shrinking supply. Developers have been purchasing farmland to expand suburbs and meet the growing housing demand.