Shiawassee County, Michigan
Agricultural Statistics



The first care of the settlers who came to this area in the early 1800s, was to till the virgin soil to provide for their families. And the first crops were planted in the oak openings, small clearings in the timber, chief among these included wheat and potatoes.

Once they produced enough for their own needs, then the surplus began to generate revenue in money. Clearing more land, the farms fields began to increase in size with each year.

The raising of cattle and sheep was never carried on with as great an importance here, as in other parts of the State of Michigan. In a report of the secretary of the Shiawassee Agricultural Society for 1854, it is stated that a full-blood Devon bull was introduced into the county as early as 1837, by L. Lyman of Shiawassee Township. Many others also brought into this county pure-blood bulls and cows, which improved the stock greatly over the next few years.

The report also mentioned many flocks of very fine imported Spanish and French Merino and Saxony sheep were exhibited at the county fair.

The development of the agricultural interests of Shiawassee County is shown below by the statisics taken from census returns of the year indicated.

............................................1840......................................1860 .....................................1874

Number of Cattle......2,143....8,427..18,920
Number of Sheep....375..19,379..N/A
Number of Swine.....3,807.5,156..8,132
Tons of Hay cut.....502..12,57929,667
Bushels of wheat produced................................19,584...101,100...463,412
Pounds of Wool..............583.....46,770....186,277

Number of Farms.................892............................2,812
Total Cash Value of Farms ................$1,957,834
Total Value of Livestock...................$336,724
.


Old Shiawassee County Barns


POPULATION
Number of
Households
Total
Population
1995
na 72,079
1990
24,769 69,770
1980
23,359 71,140
1970
18,581 63,075
1960
15,432 53,446


LABOR FORCE
Item 1995 1990
    Total Labor Force
35,400 35,025
    Employment
32,975 31,500
        Manufacturing
4,275 4,625
        Construction
675 625
        Private
10,475 9,150
        Government
3,750 3,750
    Unemployment
2,425 3,500
    Unemployment Rate %
6.9 10


FARM INCOME AND EXPENSES
Item 1994 1990 1980 1970
$1,000
INCOME
56,216 58,041 57,683 22,129
    Livestock & Products
22,124 22,758 24,173 10,874
    Crops
26,359 26,008 28,617 6,308
    Government Payments
1,391 2,978 265 1,744
    Other Income
6,342 6,297 4,628 3,203
EXPENSES
58,190 57,696 50,825 16,555
    Feed Purchased
4,047 3,491 3,486 1,789
    Livestock Purchased
1,851 1,876 2,029 1,277
    Seed Purchased
2,911 2,370 1,906 426
    Fertilizer, Lime & Chemicals1
8,709 7,446 6,553 1,707
    Other Production Expenses
40,672 42,513 36,851 11,356
NET INCOME
-1,974 345 6,858 5,574


FARMS AND FARM SIZE
Census
Year
Number
of
Farms3
Number
of Farms
over
$10,000
in sales
Average
Farm
Size
(acres)
Land
in
Farms
(acres)
Total
Cropland

(acres)
Average
age of
Farmer
(years)
1992
1,086 580 218 236,799 204,715 52.9
1987
1,160 572 207 240,357 203,050 51.2
1982
1,386 692 176 244,318 203,254 49.3
Change from 1982 to 1992
Net Change -300 -112 42 -7,519 1,461 3.6
% Change -22 -16 24 -3 1 7
1    Chemicals not included in 1970. 2 Less than $50,000
3    A farm is any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural     products were produced and sold, or normally would have been     sold, during the census year. 4 Withheld to avoid disclosing data for individual farms.


FIELD CROPS
CROP 1995 Rank HARVESTED ACRES PRODUCTION VALUE OF PRODUCTION
1995 1990 1985 1995 1990 1985 1995 1990 1985
1,000 1,000 $1,000
Barley, BU -- -- 0.5 0.4 -- 24 29 -- 40 59
Beans, Dry, All, CWT 30 0.5 1.6 3.1 9 24 39 158 437 578
Beans, Dry, Navy, CWT -- -- 1.0 1.8 -- 14 20 -- -- --
Beans, Dry, Other, CWT -- -- 0.6 -- -- 10 -- -- -- --
Corn for grain, BU 23 45.5 41.0 53.3 5,030 4,300 5,148 16,096 9,503 11,017
Corn for Silage, TONS 24 3.9 5.0 6.4 58 53 81 -- -- --
Hay, TONS 25 16.5 -- -- 80 -- -- 5,120 -- --
Oats, BU 11 1.8 10.0 14.5 115 465 1,108 190 563 1,296
Potatoes, CWT -- -- 0.3 0.3 -- 75 62 -- 495 273
Soybeans, BU 6 83.3 74.0 62.0 2,940 2,630 1,745 19,404 14,807 8,603
Wheat for grain, BU 10 23.7 31.5 28.5 1,350 1,765 1,800 5,535 4,236 5,112


LIVESTOCK
SPECIES 1995

RANK

INVENTORY VALUE OF PRODUCTION
1995 1990 1985 1995 1990 1985
1,000 $1,000
All Cattle and Calves, Jan 1, 1996 24 19.5 21.0 26.5 9,750 14,910 17,490
Milk Cows, Jan 1, 1996 18 6.4 7.1 8.2 7,360 7,526 7,503
Beef Cows, Jan 1, 1996 30 1.8 1.7 2.3 -- -- --
Milk Production, MIL LBS 21 102.0 100.0 111.0 13,260 14,000 14,130
All Hogs & Pigs, Dec 1 27 10.0 12.0 14.0 780 1,104 966
Sows Farrowed, Dec 1 26 2.3 3.0 2.4 -- -- --
All Sheep & Lambs, Jan 1, 1996 9 2.2 2.4 1.8 207 185 123
Hens and Pullets of Laying Age, Dec 1 18 2.0 10.0 27.0 -- -- --


VEGETABLES, 1995
VEGETABLE TOTAL FRESH MARKET PROCESSING
Farms Planted Acres Farms Planted

Acres

Farms Planted

Acres

All Vegetables -- -- -- -- -- --


FRUIT, 1994
NURSERY AND CHRISTMAS TREES, 1993
Crop Farms Acres Item Operations Acres
All Fruit -- -- Nurseries 16 250
Christmas Trees 6 160



Shiawassee County Agricultural Society


Shiawassee County History