Fast Facts: A 2015 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service, says
97%
of all U.S. farms are family-owned
88%
are classified as small family farms.
The NASS report, which was based on the 2012 Census of Agriculture Farm Typology, calls family farms the “the backbone of the agriculture industry.” 58 | IMPACT
Ag Life on the farm
The USDA defines a family farm as any farm where the majority of the business is owned by the operator and individuals related to the operator, including through blood, marriage or adoption.
The report includes these
5 FACTS ABOUT FAMILY FARMS Food equals family – 97 percent of the 2.1 million farms in the United States are family-owned operations. Small business matters – 88 percent of all U.S. farms are small family farms. Local connections come in small packages – 58 percent of all direct farm sales to consumers come from small family farms. Big business matters – 64 percent of all vegetable sales and 66 percent of all dairy sales come from the 3 percent of farms that are large or very large family farms. Farming provides new beginnings – 18 percent of principal operators on family farms in the U.S. started within the last 10 years.