Statistics for US Agriculture

June 13, 2006 — 

Recent reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service (ERS) indicate that 52 % of the total U.S. land area of 2.3 billion acres is used for agriculture and 98% of U.S. farms are family farms.

According to data based on 2002 census figures, the top three major land uses included forest land, 651 million acres (28.8%); grassland pasture and range land, 587 million acres (25.9%); and crop land, 442 million acres (19.5%). Urban use only accounted for 60 million acres (2.6%). Between 1997 and 2002, crop land decreased by 14 million acres to its lowest level since 1945.

Statistics presented in the ERS report entitled The Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: 2005 Family Farm Report show that 98.3% of the 2.1 million U.S. farms are family farms and produce 86% of the total agricultural output. The report defines family farms as, "Proprietorships, partnerships or family operations that do not have hired managers." These figures are very similar to data collected in 1989 which showed that 98.8% of the farms were classified as family farms. Interestingly, the largest increases between the 1989 and 2005 statistics occurred in the very smallest and very largest family farm categories. The percentage of U.S. farms with sales less than $10,000 increased by 7.7% and that of the very largest farms (sales > $500,000) increased by 1.3%. During the same timeframe, the largest small family farms (sales of $10,000 - $249,999) declined 9.4%.

ERS reports that large family farms, those with annual sales over $1 million, account for only 9% of the total farms but produce 73% of all production by value. The report also finds that 61% of all farms in 2003 did not participate in any government farm-based program. In addition, the median income for farm households is 10 percent greater than the median for all U.S. households. Very large family farms are at least twice as likely as any other category to specialize in poultry or hogs, accounting for 75 percent of poultry production and 61 percent of hog production.

The study findings also indicate that the primary operator of family farms tends to be older than other self-employed individuals and speculates that fewer children are born to farm families today and fewer young people are returning to the family farm. However, the study notes that older farmers can be replaced with a smaller number of younger farmers producing more on larger farms. The 2002 Census of Agriculture estimates that the 34,100 largest farms account for 50 percent of the sales of farm products, and the 143,500 largest farms account for 75 percent of sales.

Source:
USDA Economic Research Service

USAGNET, June 13, 2006