Ag census reveals more
small and large producers
By Nancy Jorgensen
The 2007 Census of Agriculture, released by USDA in February, shows a declining number of commercial mid-sized farms, with an increase in large farms. These trends aren’t new, but the census also reveals an increase in small farms, which comes as more of a surprise.
The total number of farms in the U.S. increased from 2002-2007 to 2.2 million, a net increase of 75,810 farms. Most of the increase came from small farms with annual sales of less than $250,000. A total of 57 percent of all farms fit into this small farm category; 36 percent are residential or lifestyle farms operated by those with a primary occupation off the farm, and retired people operate the other 21 percent. Missouri tracks national percentages, with 40 percent being lifestyle farms and 21 percent operated by retirees.
Ronald Plain, an agricultural economist with the University of Missouri, offers theories on why small farm numbers are growing. He thinks that USDA more aggressively counted small farms in the recent census. At the same time, inflation pushed up the number of farms earning more than $1,000 in sales—that’s USDA’s definition of a farm.
“In recent years, USDA has been including more and more of those places that only occasionally sell more than $1,000 worth of farm products,” Plain said. “For example, nearly one-third of the farms counted in the 2007 census did not have $1,000 in farm sales in 2007.”
Barry Flinchbaugh, who teaches ag economics at Kansas State University, wasn’t all that surprised by the rise in small farms. “There’s been a big push toward local products, organic farming, farmers’ markets and other niche markets,” he said. “The increase in small farmers should help build farm influence.”
Gene Danekas, director of the National Agricultural Statistics Service for USDA in Missouri, reported that Missouri farm numbers rose by just 1 percent compared to 4 percent nationally.
Generally, though, Missouri reflects national trends. “In Missouri, about 10 percent of the total number of farms produce about 80 percent of the state’s agricultural production,” he said. “Here, 75 percent of the state’s production value was generated by approximately 8,000 farms, where it took about 9,800 farms in 2002.”
While mid-sized farm numbers declined, Missouri farms selling less than $2,500 in products annually rose by 9 percent, Danekas said. The biggest change came in the number of Missouri farms generating more than $500,000 in sales—they almost doubled. For more info on the census, see www.agcensus.usda.gov.
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