A new report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture released this week shows 99 percent of U.S. farms were family farms in 2015. Family farms, according to USDA, are classified as a farm where the principal operator and his or her relatives owned the majority of the business. The report shows that small family farms—those with less than $350,000 in annual gross cash farm income—accounted for about 90 percent of U.S. farms, half of all farmland, and a quarter of the value of production. Midsize and large-scale family farms, which have at least $350,000 in gross farm cash income, made up only nine percent of U.S. farms -but contributed most of the value of production. Over the past 25 years, production has shifted to midsize and large-scale farms. However, small family farms did produce a relatively large share of two commodities in 2015: 57 percent of all poultry and eggs and 52 percent of the nation’s hay crop.
From the National Association of Farm Broadcasting news service.