Agricultural Giants: The Biggest Farm in the World

At the intersection of nature and human ingenuity lies the phenomenon of agriculture. The very catalyst that transformed nomadic tribes into settled civilisations and carved the path towards the world as it’s known today. Farms of all sizes, including the world’s biggest farm, play a fascinating role in shaping the economy, providing employment opportunities, maintaining food security, and boosting trade.

The largest farms in the world are so pivotal to the workings of society that their smooth operation goes a long way to determine the health of global economics. Today, the world’s biggest agricultural companies, including the largest dairy farm in the world, have evolved at a breathtaking pace, weaving a complex matrix of technology, genetics, environmental science, and economic forecasting to ensure they produce more for less, ready to meet global demand.

Here’s a rundown of the world’s largest farms by size in acres. It’s worth noting that the largest farm in the world can be determined by a number of different factors including total land area, the total production, or the total value of the agricultural output. Different sources might rank different farms as the largest depending on the specific metrics they use.

Location: Suffolk, UK | Size: 10,000 acres

The Elveden Estate is believed to be the largest ring-fenced arable farm in the UK. While it’s a fraction of the size of the world’s biggest farm, Elveden grows around 6% of the UK’s onions, they supply the world’s biggest fast-food chain with potatoes and they grow more rye than any other farm in the UK.

Location: Braila, Romania | Size: 141,850 acres

Situated on the west bank of the River Danube, Arigost is the biggest farm in Europe and produces around 5% of Romania’s total production of autumn wheat, autumn barley, corn, soya, sunflowers, alfalfa hay and peas, amounting to some 500,000 tons.

Location: Marlborough District, New Zealand | Size: 440,000 acres

The world’s largest farm is a staggering fifty-five times the size of the South Island’s Molesworth Station, but Molesworth is nevertheless the biggest farm in New Zealand – supporting the country’s biggest herd of cattle. As well as a cattle station, the farm, established in 1949, is one of New Zealand’s leading government science program facilities, leading research into diseases such as bovine tuberculosis.

Location: Texas, USA | Size: 825,000 acres

Similar in size to Luxembourg, the King Ranch in south Texas is the largest cattle farm in the USA and one of the largest farms in the world. It was founded in 1853 and claims to be the birthplace of American ranching. The ranch developed the first beef cattle breed in the USA – the Santa Gertrudis. Today, it’s believed to have around 35,000 head of cattle. Predominantly a cattle ranch, they also grow citrus, cotton, grain and sugar cane.

Location: Northern Territory, Australia | Size: 4,056,000 acres

Owned by the North Australian Pastoral Company, Alexandria is one of the world’s remotest cattle stations and is around ten times the size of Greater London. They have around 80,000 head of cattle including Brahman, Belmont and Charbray breeds and each year, almost 10,000 bales of hay are harvested at Alexandria.

Location: South Australia, Australia | Size: 5,851,000 acres

Close to the famous mining town of Coober Pedy, Anna Creek is the world’s largest working cattle station and one of the largest farms in the world. The farm is capable of carrying 16,500 heads of cattle in a good season, and is one of the world’s largest beef producers.

Location: Heilongjiang Province, China | Size: 22,500,000 acres

Made up of a series of related dairy farming projects, and located close to the Russian border in southeast China, the Mudanjiang City Mega Farm is the largest dairy farm in the world as well as the largest farm in the world. The farm was established as recently as 2015 and is jointly owned by China’s Zhongding Dairy Farming and Russia’s Severny Bur. It has around 100,000 dairy cows who produce around 800 million litres of milk a year.

The largest farms in the world are fascinating examples of agricultural ambition, seamlessly blending technology and engineering to meet the ever-increasing global food demand. These vast farms underline the dynamic and indispensable nature of the changing face of global food supply.