There were 1,224 farms in Effingham County in 2022, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Census of Agriculture, which is published every five years.
That was a 3% increase from the 2017 census, when there were 1,193 farms. But the amount of farmland dipped from 299,389 acres in 2017 to 281,772 acres in 2022 – a 6% drop.
Trent Schmid, co-owner of Schmid Auction in Teutopolis, specializes in farm-related auctions and has seen the trend in Effingham and surrounding counties. He’s disappointed that the farmland acreage is shrinking, which he attributes to solar conversion, residential and other development.
“It kind of makes me sick to my stomach when I drive by beautiful farmland with solar panels on it,” said Schmid.
When parents have seven or eight children, it’s challenging to equally divide up the land, which is another reason people choose to sell their land, Schmid said. However, he agrees with a University of Illinois analysis that Effingham County farmland has a low turnover rate compared to other counties in the state.
Despite the large amount of acreage in Illinois, relatively little farmland changes hands annually, according to the U of I study at farmdocdaily.illinois.edu titled, “Illinois Farmland Turnover Rates: 2003–2025.”
Between 2003 and 2025, the average annual turnover rate in Illinois averaged 1.77% of total farmland, and between 2012 and 2025, it averaged an estimated 1.45%. Between 2003 and 2025, Effingham County’s average annual turnover was just 0.7%, according to the study.
Despite the low turnover, Schmid thinks there are probably more farmers with off-farm jobs in Effingham County than any other county in Illinois.
“Good old Effingham County Germans love their land,” he said. “They don’t like to sell it. They hold onto it. In Effingham County, there’s a lot of small farmers that have jobs in town. They’re electricians. They do other things. They’re in the printing industry, and they just keep on farming – even though they’re small farms.”
Here are some stats from the 2022 USDA census of Effingham County agriculture:
• Share of sales by type
Crops: 68%
Livestock, poultry and products: 32%
• Acreage by use
Cropland: 239,219 acres
Pastureland: 4,872 acres
Woodland: 25,154 acres
Other: 12,527 acres
• Farms by value of sales
Less than $2,500: 347
$2,500 to $4,999: 62
$5,000 to $9,999: 93
$10,000 to $24,999: 94
$25,000 to $49,999: 107
$50,000 to $99,999: 123
$100,000 or more: 398
• Farmers
Male: 1,500
Female: 558
Under 35 years old: 215
35 to 64 years old: 1,142
65 and older: 701