Accurately grasping the characteristics and influencing factors of cultivated land abandonment in major grain producing areas is significant for ensuring food security and strengthening cultivated land protection. Henan Province was taken as the research area. Based on the identification of the distribution of abandoned farmland, an abandonment degree index was proposed to describe the overall characteristics and spatial distribution of abandoned land. At the same time, the Geodetector model was used to reveal the formation mechanism of farmland abandonment at the county scale. Results showed that in 2015, the abandoned land area in Henan Province was 174419.46 hm2, and the overall abandoned rate was about 2.15%. There were different degrees of abandoned land in 158 counties of the province. The spatial distribution of abandoned farmland was generally in an inverted “T” pattern. The cultivated land abandonment in Henan Province was affected by many factors, among which the outflow of population was the direct factor, the fragmentation of cultivated land was the indirect factor, and the low income of agricultural production was the fundamental factor. According to the characteristics of abandoned land, the research area was classified into three types: population constrained area, production condition constrained area, and economic condition constrained area. It was necessary to adopt orderly measures to promote the transfer of agricultural land according to local conditions, strengthen construction of high-standard farmland, and implement economic incentives. Thus the rational and effective use of cultivated land could be promoted.