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The financial well-being of farm households is affected
by the choices household members make. Their choices are
determined by many factors, including when they began
farming and their demographic characteristics. One of
the major choices that affects financial well-being is
how farm operators and their spouses allocate their labor
to farm and off-farm work. Among this chapter's highlights:
- About a fifth of farms are operated solely by individuals
who have been farming for 10 years or less (i.e., beginning
farmers).
- The householder (or principal farm operator) of farm
households is generally older, more likely to be a White
male, and more likely to live in the South and Midwest
than the average U.S. householder.
- Farming is not the single career choice for most
farm households. Off-farm employment is increasingly
common for both farm operators and their spouses.
- Job choices link household well-being to the broader
economy; farm operators and spouses work in a variety
of business types.
Beginning Farmers and Ranchers
Generally, a beginning farm is considered to be one that
is operated by one or more operators who have 10 years
or less of experience operating a farm or ranch. In 2007,
approximately 21 percent of family farms met that definition.
Beginning farms were more likely to be small farms than
established farms and in fact were less likely to produce
any agricultural products in 2007. Beginning farms accounted
for 11 percent of the total production value of family
farms in 2007. There are also established farms that are
operated jointly by more experienced operators and beginning
farmers. While the majority of beginning farmers (82.6
percent in 2007) operated beginning farms, 17.4 percent
of beginning farmers (making up 3 percent of all farmers)
jointly operated established farms with experienced farmers.
Demographics of Farm Operators
More than one-quarter of principal farm operators are
age 65 or older (see table).
The average age of operators has been greater than 50
since at least the 1974 Census of Agriculture. The age
structure of householders (i.e., heads of households)
for U.S. households in general is much younger. One reason
for the advanced age structure of farmers is the farm's
status as the family home. More than 20 percent of farm
operators report they are retired. Senior farmers adjust
to farming in a variety of ways, such as operating their
farms at a smaller scale or participating in the Conservation
Reserve Program.
d
The education level of farm operators is very similar
to the educational profile for U.S. householders. Most
farmers and U.S. householders have graduated from high
school and/or attended college for a few years (see table).
About one-quarter of farmers and U.S. householders graduated
from college with a 4-year degree or more. This high degree
of correspondence between the educational attainment of
farm operators and all U.S. householders is a relatively
new situation. In 1964, for example, only 4 percent of
farmers had a college degree, and two-thirds had not even
completed high school, which lagged behind the educational
attainment of all U.S. householders. Some would argue
that formal education is less important for a farmer than
for other occupations because much of the human capital
demanded of a farmer comes from farming experience. However,
formal educational attainment contributes to a farmer's
ability to adapt to the changing agricultural marketplace
and to adopt new farming techniques. Higher education
is also financially rewarding for the majority of farmers
who are employed in the nonfarm economy.
Most farm operators are men. About 10 percent of principal
farm operators are women (see table).
However, that represents a significant increase from as
recently as 25 years ago, when less than 5 percent were
women. Women generally operate farms that are smaller
than average. Once primarily focused on beef cattle production,
female principal operators have diversified their farm
operations over the past two decades to include horses,
aquaculture, and fur-bearing animals. Many farms, more
than 40 percent, report more than one operator, and, in
most of these cases, the additional operators are women.
When all operators are considered—not just the single
principal operator of a farm—more than one-quarter
of U.S. farm operators are women.
About three-quarters of the general U.S. population is
classified as being solely White (i.e., White alone and
of all ethnic origins). Farm operators are much more likely
than the general population to report being White. In
2007, 95.9 percent of principal operators reported being
White and 2.5 percent reported being of Hispanic origin.
There is overlap in these characteristics; 93.5 percent
reported being White, not of Hispanic origin. Annual information
is not available on more detailed racial categories because
of the small population of nonWhite farmers available
in USDA's annual survey. However, every 5 years, the Census
of Agriculture seeks to contact all farmers, and so more
detailed racial breakdowns are provided by that data source.
The 2007 Census of Agriculture reported that 96 percent
of principal farm operators were White. Blacks or African
Americans were 1.4 percent of all principal operators.
American Indians or Alaska natives (1.6 percent), Asians
(0.5 percent), native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islanders
(0.1 percent), and those reporting more than one race
(0.6 percent) made up the remainder. Most Hispanic operators
(93 percent) reported their race as White.
Most U.S. farms are located in the South and Midwest
census regions (see table).
The fewest farm households are in the Northeast, consistent
with the greater population density of this region and
the open-space requirements of most farming operations.
Compared to all U.S. households, a greater share of farm
households is in the Midwest and South and a smaller share
is in the Northeast and West.
Labor Allocations of Operators and
Spouses
Farming is not the single, nor even primary, career choice
for most farm households. Farm operators and their spouses
often allocate their time to off-farm work activities,
either working for wages/salaries or operating a nonfarm
business. Sometimes this activity is where they spend
most of their work time, and sometimes it is secondary
to their farm work.
It is common for both the operator and spouse to work
off the farm, as occurs in more than one-third of farm
operator households (see table).
(This rate is even higher when we consider only those
households where a spouse is present (see table).)
It is also common for neither the operator nor the spouse
to allocate time to off-farm work.
d
A straightforward indicator of how farm operators and
spouses allocate their time is what they consider to be
their major occupation, or the work activity in which
they allocate the majority of their work time. Operators
were somewhat more likely to identify nonfarm work than
farming or ranching as their major occupation (see table).
Some operators indicated that they were not in the workforce;
most of these operators also indicated that they considered
themselves to be retired. In contrast, spouses were more
likely than operators to identify nonfarm work as their
major occupation rather than farm work; about a third
indicated that they did not work outside the home.
When they work off the farm, farm operators and their
spouses work in a variety of business types. The most
common industry for operators with a wage and salary job
is manufacturing. Other common choices include construction;
education or health care services; agriculture, foresting,
fishing, hunting or mining; and wholesale trade, warehousing,
utilities, or transportation. The off-farm industries
in which spouses are employed are less diverse—nearly
40 percent work in the education and health services area.
d
d
Some operators and spouses manage their own nonfarm business,
as well as manage their farms. Operators with nonfarm
business are concentrated in the construction industry
and retail and other services. About one-half of the spouses
with a nonfarm business are in retail and other services.
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