Rural cultivated land resources have become idle and ineffectively utilized. The cultivated land circulation status and its driving mechanisms were studied to vitalize the utilization of cultivated land resources. The study also aimed to provide theoretical support for targeted regional sustainable poverty alleviation and rural revitalization considering the organic connection between the two. Yanchi County, an area representative of targeted poverty alleviation and rural revitalization in the northwest arid region, was chosen for the study.The differentiation characteristics, controlling factors, and mechanisms of cultivated land circulation were investigated using ArcGIS and geographic detectors based on questionnaire survey data from 93 administrative villages. The results showed that there were significant regional differences in the circulation of cultivated land in Yanchi County with a moderate intensity in the central region and higher and lower intensities in the north and south, respectively. Per capita cultivated land area, irrigated land area, cooperative operation status,number of characteristic industries, and distance from the main road of the county level were the leading factors of cultivated land circulation, with determination values of 0.247, 0.264, 0.028, 0.065, and 0.091, respectively. Our results suggested that land use drives cultivated land circulation in Yanchi County. Cultivated land circulation and sustainable utilization can be achieved by constructing water conservancy projects and increasing irrigated land area and by strengthening agricultural cooperative management and characteristic industry development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]