How Big Will Farms Get?

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"Today’s average Illinois commercial crop farm is about 1,500 acres," Schnitkey says. "In 10 years, I expect that to be 2,500 acres. Eventually, the average Illinois farm could be closer to 10,000 acres."
The number of acres that can be efficiently farmed per person keeps increasing as equipment size increases; however, that places a real premium on farmers’ ability to ramp up management of technology and people.
"If you have 3,000 acres, you are too big for one combine but not big enough to fully utilize two," Schnitkey says. "We have 12-row combines and now they’re manufacturing 16-row combines." There’s no end in sight to development of new technologies that will allow farmers to more efficiently farm added acreage.
As a farm operation grows, Dale Nordquist, a University of Minnesota ag economist, points out some hurdles, such as employee management, that must be jumped. Farmers with the desire and ability to manage large numbers of employees will likely grow their operations to much larger sizes than those who prefer to do most of the farm work themselves, he says.
No Boundaries. Growth in future decades will not be limited by proximity. An increasing number of producers will operate in different states and countries. "That’s happening already," says Danny Klinefelter, Texas A&M ag economist. Part of this trend will be crunching numbers to determine locations where it’s cost effective to expand, and it might be 1,000 miles away.

I know one thing, I won't be farming in two areas 1,000 miles apart.  And managing employees does not sound like my idea of a good time.  Thanks, but no thanks.  I could see farming 1,500 to 2,000 acres, but 10,000? No.