Examining the research status, focus, and developing trend of the agricultural carbon effect in China can provide references to researchers and improve the breadth and depth of research on the agricultural carbon effect. In this study, 708 high-quality papers published from 2009 to 2021 in the Chinese Academic Journal Network Publishing Database were retrieved as basic data. CiteSpace software was used for a visualized analysis of information, including authors, institutions, and keywords. The results suggested that, in terms of research status, the number of papers experienced a high-speed growth period and a stable growth period; With their authors being mostly scattered and only some being concentrated. Most institutions conduct their research independently. In terms of research focus, the core words found throughout the existing research were agricultural carbon emissions, carbon emissions, low-carbon agriculture, greenhouse gas, farmland ecosystem, and carbon sink. Six clusters were identified, namely agricultural carbon emissions, soil carbon sequestration, carbon footprint, low-carbon agriculture, agricultural carbon emissions efficiency, and carbon emissions reduction. Additionally, 12 burst terms were observed, namely soil carbon sequestration, soil organic carbon, low-carbon agriculture, greenhouse gas emissions reduction, low carbon economy, carbon sequestration and emissions reduction, greenhouse gas, countermeasures, carbon sink, lmdi model, carbon sequestration rate, and agricultural carbon emissions efficiency. Five categories of research focus were summarized, namely agricultural carbon source/sink, agricultural carbon sequestration, agricultural carbon emissions reduction, agricultural carbon footprint, and low-carbon agriculture. In terms of research trends, the keywords were concentrated in papers published from 2009 to 2014. Research on the agricultural carbon effect shows trends of increasing research popularity, decreasing research topics, and increasing research methods. Finally, the prospect of the agricultural carbon effect in China was based on five aspects: mid-small areas, comprehensive perspective, the entire industry chain, farmer behavior, and grain security.