Reviewed September 2026 against USDA NASS (Wyoming Statistics) and USDA AMS Market News.

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Wyoming Agriculture: Farming, Ranching & Land Data Guide

Wyoming agriculture runs on 11,900 farms and ranches covering 28.5 million acres, according to the USDA’s 2022 Census of Agriculture — and cattle, not crops, dominate the state’s output. Farming in Wyoming means hay and forage first (2.38 million tons produced in 2022, worth $184.357 million), grain crops second, and a beef-cattle herd of 1.26 million head that outnumbers the state’s human population by more than double.

This guide works through the actual production numbers behind Wyoming farming — hay, barley, wheat, corn, sugar beets and cattle — sourced directly from USDA NASS’s Wyoming Annual Statistical Bulletin and Census of Agriculture, with the exact reports to check for updated figures. It also covers how Wyoming’s cropland, grazing land, state forests and mining operations share the same watersheds, and where satellite monitoring fits into managing all of it.

Wyoming Agriculture at a Glance

These are the numbers a search for “wyoming agriculture” should actually surface: a land base, a farm count, a crop mix, and a livestock inventory — not a general description of the state’s economy.

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1. Farm Count and Land Base: 11,900 Farms, 28.5 Million Acres

The 2022 USDA Census of Agriculture counted 11,900 farms and ranches in Wyoming, operating a combined 28.5 million acres of agricultural land — roughly 46% of the state’s total land area of about 62 million acres. That land base is dominated by grazing land rather than cropland: Wyoming’s high elevation, short growing season, and average annual precipitation under 15 inches across most of the state mean cattle ranching on native range, not row-crop farming, is the default land use outside irrigated river valleys.

The Census of Agriculture is conducted every five years (2017, 2022, 2027 next), so the 11,900-farm and 28.5-million-acre figures are current through the next census cycle. For county-level breakdowns of farm size, ownership structure and land value, the full state report is published by USDA at the link below.

USDA 2022 Census of Agriculture — Wyoming State Profile

Land Stewardship Practices on Wyoming Operations

• ✔ Rotational Grazing: Moves herds between pastures to avoid overgrazing and preserve forage during drought periods.
• ✔ Hay and Forage Production: Grows feed crops to carry cattle and sheep through winter, discussed in detail in Section 2.
• ✔ Riparian Buffer Maintenance: Protects streamside vegetation on irrigated and range land alike, since most Wyoming farms border a creek, river or canal that also serves neighboring operations.
• ✔ Conservation Planning: Integrates grazing, hay ground and wildlife corridors within county zoning and watershed management plans.
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2. Hay and Forage: Wyoming’s Largest Crop by Value

Hay is the backbone of Wyoming farming. In 2022, Wyoming producers grew 2.38 million tons of hay (all types) worth $184.357 million — more production value than any other single crop category in the state, according to the USDA NASS Wyoming Annual Statistical Bulletin. That scale makes sense given the state’s cattle numbers: hay is grown almost entirely to feed the beef herd through Wyoming winters, not for sale as a cash crop outside the region.

Hay stocks held on Wyoming farms and ranches stood at 390,000 tons as of May 1, 2025, per USDA NASS’s Wyoming crop production release — a snapshot of carryover supply between grazing seasons, published quarterly.

USDA NASS Wyoming Annual Statistical Bulletin (hay, crop and livestock data)

Why Hay Stocks Matter for Wyoming Ranchers

A hay-stocks figure below the prior year’s level signals tighter winter feed supply and typically pushes ranchers toward earlier culling or purchased feed — both of which affect herd size the following January count. Because stocks are reported quarterly (December 1, May 1) while production is reported annually, tracking both series together gives a fuller picture of feed availability than either alone.

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3. Grain Crops: Barley, Wheat, Corn and Sugar Beets

Outside hay, Wyoming’s irrigated valleys — particularly the Bighorn Basin and the North Platte Valley — produce a working mix of grain and specialty crops. In 2023, per USDA NASS:

• ✔ Barley: 6.03 million bushels produced, at an average yield of 93 bushels/acre.
• ✔ Winter wheat: 2.70 million bushels produced.
• ✔ Corn grain: 9.03 million bushels produced, at an average yield of 153 bushels/acre.
• ✔ Sugar beets: 847,000 tons produced, at an average yield of 29.1 tons/acre.

Barley is grown largely under contract for malting, supplying regional brewers; sugar beets go to processing plants in the North Platte Valley near Torrington and Worland. Corn grain yield of 153 bushels/acre trails Corn Belt states by a wide margin, but on Wyoming’s irrigated acreage it is a reliable rotation crop alongside barley and beets.

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4. Cattle Ranching: Wyoming’s Core Agricultural Economy

Cattle ranching, not crop farming, defines Wyoming agriculture economically. As of January 2023, Wyoming carried 1,260,000 head of cattle and calves, of which 671,000 were beef cows — a herd more than double the state’s human population. Fed steer prices on the 5-area weighted live market averaged $2.36 per pound in September 2026, per USDA AMS/ERS market reporting.

USDA NASS Wyoming Cattle Facts breaks the herd down by class (beef cows, replacement heifers, steers, calves) and by county. Cattle prices move weekly; USDA AMS publishes the 5-area fed steer report every Friday.

USDA AMS 5-Area Weekly Weighted Average Direct Slaughter Cattle Report

Grazing Management on Wyoming Rangeland

• ✔ Rotational Grazing Cycles: Moves livestock through multiple pastures, allowing forage to renew and preventing erosion.
• ✔ Carrying Capacity Planning: Balances herd size with pasture availability across Wyoming’s varied elevations and rangeland types — from Bighorn Basin desert range to Laramie Plains grassland.
• ✔ Wildlife Corridor Design: Grazing systems that maintain movement corridors for pronghorn, mule deer and elk alongside cattle.
• ✔ Pasture Monitoring: Frequent forage assessments to adjust stocking rates during drought.

Farmonaut’s satellite monitoring lets ranchers track pasture and forage health across large grazing allotments in near real time, flagging where forage is thinning before it shows up as weight loss in the herd — useful on operations running cattle across the thousands of acres a typical Wyoming ranch covers.

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5. Water and Irrigation: Wyoming Farming’s Binding Constraint

Every crop figure in Sections 2 and 3 depends on irrigation water drawn from Wyoming’s river systems — principally the North Platte, Bighorn, Green and Wind rivers. Hay, barley, corn and sugar beets are grown almost entirely on irrigated ground; dryland farming in Wyoming is limited to a narrow band of winter wheat acreage in the state’s eastern counties, where it is more exposed to drought variability than irrigated crops.

Precision Irrigation Practices

• ✔ Center-Pivot Modernization: Upgrades irrigation systems to improve uniformity and reduce water loss across hay and forage fields.
• ✔ Data-Driven Scheduling: Uses soil moisture sensors and weather data to time water applications for maximum crop uptake and minimal runoff.
• ✔ Canal Leakage Reduction: Maintains canal linings to prevent loss and preserve irrigation allocations shared across multiple users on the same ditch.

Use case benefit: For organizations tracking water-use efficiency alongside emissions, Farmonaut’s carbon footprinting dashboard provides field-level data on resource use and environmental impact.

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6. Forestry, Mining and the Land-Use Mix Around Wyoming Farms

Wyoming farmland does not sit in isolation — much of the state’s 28.5 million agricultural acres borders national forest, BLM grazing allotments, or active mineral, oil, gas, coal and trona operations. Water quality and quantity connect all three: streams that irrigate hay ground often originate in forested watersheds and pass through or near mining permit areas before reaching farm diversions.

Forestry’s Role in Protecting Farm Water Supply

• ✔ Selective Thinning: Reduces wildfire fuel loads in upper watersheds that feed irrigation systems downstream.
• ✔ Riparian Buffers: Maintain streamside vegetation for erosion control and water filtration before flows reach agricultural diversions.

Mining and Reclamation Near Agricultural Land

Mining occupies a small share of Wyoming’s land area but generates significant economic activity, and reclamation obligations exist specifically to return disturbed land to future agricultural or grazing use — removing structures, restoring soil layers and replanting native vegetation. Farmonaut’s blockchain-based traceability tools help operators document responsible practices and reclamation progress with a verifiable record.

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7. Monitoring the Numbers Year to Year: A Verification Method

Every figure in this article carries an expiration date. Here is the durable method for checking whether it still holds and finding the current number, regardless of what year you’re reading this:

1. Farm count and land acreage (currently 11,900 farms, 28.5 million acres): fixed until the next Census of Agriculture, conducted every five years. Check USDA’s Census of Agriculture portal for the next release.
2. Annual crop production (hay, barley, wheat, corn, sugar beets): published each January for the prior crop year in the Wyoming Annual Statistical Bulletin, or query any year directly via USDA NASS Quick Stats (quickstats.nass.usda.gov), filtering by state “Wyoming.”
3. Hay stocks: reported quarterly (December 1 and May 1) via USDA NASS’s Wyoming state office page.
4. Cattle inventory: reported annually each January in the Wyoming Cattle Facts brochure.
5. Fed cattle prices: published weekly, every Friday, by USDA AMS Market News.
6. Commodity price outlooks: USDA’s WASDE report is released monthly around the 10th, covering national and regional price projections that affect Wyoming grain and cattle markets.

Where Hay Ranks Nationally, and How to Check Any State’s Top Commodity

Hay is Wyoming’s leading crop by value at $184.357 million in 2022 production — but this article does not have a verified, current figure for how that ranks against every other US state’s top commodity, and inventing a comparison table across all 50 states would risk exactly the kind of unsourced claim this piece is built to avoid. If you’re comparing “top commodities by state” broadly, the reliable method is USDA NASS Quick Stats’ state-ranking tool, which lets you sort any commodity’s production or value by state for a chosen year, or USDA’s Economic Research Service Farm Income and Wealth Statistics, which breaks down cash receipts by commodity and state annually.

For Wyoming specifically, the ranking within the state is unambiguous from the Annual Statistical Bulletin: hay’s $184.357 million in 2022 production value exceeds any single grain crop’s value, driven by the acreage cattle ranching demands for winter feed.

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Calculator: Wyoming Hay Feed-Value Estimator

Estimate the market value of hay tonnage on hand using Wyoming’s per-ton production value as a baseline, then adjust for your own price and herd feed need.

Assumptions: default price per ton ($77.46) is derived from Wyoming’s 2022 hay value of production ($184.357 million ÷ 2.38 million tons, USDA NASS). Default tonnage (390,000) is Wyoming’s statewide May 2025 hay stocks figure — replace both with your own numbers. This tool excludes hay quality/type differences, transportation cost, and supplemental feed; it is a planning estimate only, not a substitute for a ration balance from a livestock nutritionist.

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Farmonaut Satellite Tools for Wyoming Producers

Managing hay ground, grazing allotments and grain rotations across a 2,395-acre average Wyoming farm means covering a lot of ground that’s hard to inspect on foot every week. Farmonaut’s satellite and AI tools give producers, land managers and agricultural lenders a way to check crop and pasture condition remotely:

• ✔ Real-time crop, pasture and forest monitoring via satellite imagery
• ✔ AI-driven advisory and weather forecasting with JEEVN AI (watch JEEVN AI in action)
• ✔ Traceability for responsible mining and farming operations sharing the same land
• ✔ Fleet and large-scale farm management for equipment across large acreages
• ✔ Carbon footprint tracking for agriculture, forestry and mining operations

For integration, visit our API page or the developer documentation. For crop loans and insurance verification, satellite-based tools help Wyoming farmers and lenders alike.

Start a Farmonaut subscription today and put satellite and AI tools to work on your Wyoming operation:

Frequently Asked Questions: Wyoming Agriculture and Farming

Conclusion

Wyoming agriculture is, in concrete terms, 11,900 farms and ranches working 28.5 million acres, anchored by a cattle herd of 1.26 million head and a hay crop worth $184.357 million a year that exists mainly to feed that herd. Grain crops — barley, wheat, corn, sugar beets — fill out irrigated valley acreage but stay secondary to livestock in both scale and value.

These figures will move every year: check USDA NASS Quick Stats for updated crop and livestock numbers, and USDA AMS Market News for weekly cattle prices, using the links throughout this guide. For day-to-day monitoring of pasture and crop condition across Wyoming’s large operations, Farmonaut’s satellite tools give producers a way to check land condition remotely between visits.