The latest USDA report showing the nation’s farms are getting bigger and the number of farms is decreasing is disturbing to one South Dakota farm leader. South Dakota Farmers Union President Doug Sombke says USDA indicates the U.S. lost 18,000 farms last year, which is a sign of the growing concentration in agriculture.

He says the trends of declining farm number and larger farms, combined with recent low commodity prices, have farm lenders very concerned.

Sombke says the ag concentration problem is also hitting other areas of the rural economy, including banks.

USDA’s report also showed almost 31-percent of farmland was operated by farms with less than $100,000 in sales. Farms with sales of $500,000 or more operated 41-percent of all farmland.