Family farms still strong in the United States

Almost 100% of farms are run by families

By Diego Flammini, Farms.com

New information from the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) shows that family-run farms are as important in the United States today as they ever were.

"As we wrap up mining the 6 million data points from the latest Census of Agriculture, we used typology to further explore the demographics of who is farming and ranching today," said NASS Statistics Division Director Hubert Hamer. "What we found is that family-owned businesses, while very diverse, are at the core of the U.S. agriculture industry. In fact, 97 percent of all U.S. farms are family-owned."

The Census of Agriculture Farm Typology report completed in 2012 focused on family farms.

A family farm is described as a farm operation where the operator or people related to the operator whether it be through blood, marriage or adoption, own a majority of the business.

The report highlighted five key facts to consider when speaking about family farms:

1. Food equals family – 97% of the 2.1 million farms in the United Sates are family-owned.
2. Small business matters – 88% of all farms are small family farms.
3. Local connections come in small packages – 58% of direct farm sales to consumers come from small farms.
4. Big business matters too – 64% of vegetable sales and 66% of dairy come from the 3% of farms considered large or very large.
5. Farming provides new beginnings – 18% of principal operators on farms started within the last decade.

Join the conversation and tell us how it makes you feel knowing that the foundation of farms in the United States is still held in tact by families.

A family on their farm
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