Editor's note: Farm Futures’ exclusive Best Places to Farm report ranks the financial performance of 3,056 counties. By analyzing proprietary data and the recently released results from USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture, Farm Futures averaged weighted ranks of the ratios on return on assets, profit margins and asset turnover for each county. How does your county rank? Visit the interactive map below to check the ranking of 3,056 counties and browse other stats.

In this latest installment of Best Places to Farm, high farmland prices slice into financial performance for producers across the country.

In this exclusive report, Farm Futures ranks the financial performance of 3,056 counties. By analyzing proprietary data and the recently released results from the 2022 U.S. Ag Census, Farm Futures averaged weighted ranks of the ratios on return on assets, profit margins and asset turnover for each county.

To say the five years leading up to that 2022 Ag Census were turbulent is an understatement. Starting after 2017’s census, the period began with a trade war, only partly recouped by massive government aid. It was then socked by the pandemic of the century, followed by a surge in inflation and supply chain breakdowns. War in Ukraine came next, joined by stalemates in Congress.

Related:Farm profit: New data reveals regional differences

And don’t forget those land prices. Though good for managing debt-to-asset ratios, land costs make it hard to squeeze profits from each dollar invested. The latest ranking for Best Places to Farm reflects that impact has a lot to do with why Midwestern states showed up lower on the ladder and the Southern state of Mississippi grabbed six of the top 10 spots.

Knowing that size still matters, consolidation was the name of the game for dairy and the rest of farming. The U.S. lost 140,000 operations from 2017 to 2022 — a 6.1% dip, mostly resulting from mergers. That fallout is seen in this statistic: Small farms generating sales of $10,000 or less dropped by 25%...