History

Agriculture FAQs

When was the first census of agriculture?

The census of agriculture originated as part of the 1820 census, when U.S. marshals began to ask how many people within each household were engaged in agricultural pursuits. In 1840, marshals began using separate census schedules to collect data related to agriculture.

Agriculture data were so important that a separate schedule was used to collect them in 1840.
This poster for the census of agriculture in 1945 emphasized the need for farm data, especially
as the United States fought World War II.
Photo courtesy of the National Archives