|
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).
- 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 solely by one or more operators who have 10 years or less of experience operating a farm or ranch. In 2010, 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 have produced any agricultural products in 2010 (see table). Beginning farms accounted for 10 percent of the total production value of family farms in 2010. There are also established farms (i.e., not considered beginning farms) that are operated jointly by more experienced operators and beginning farmers. While the majority of beginning farmers (90 percent in 2010) operated beginning farms, 10 percent of beginning farmers (making up less than 3 percent of all farmers) jointly operated established farms with experienced farmers.
 d
Demographics of Farm Operators
About 30 percent 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
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 of principal farm operators 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 and spouses of principal operators (see table).
When all operators are considered—not just the single
principal operator of a farm—more than 30 percent
of U.S. farm operators are women.
 d
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 non-White 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.
The 2008 Farm Act established or modified several USDA farm programs to increase the participation of beginning farmers or ranchers, women and minority principal operators (so-called socially disadvantaged farmers), and limited-resource farmers (based on their low farm sales and household income, see glossary for detailed definition). In 2010, 39 percent of all family farms were classified as one or more of these targeted farm groups (see table). They are less likely to participate in government farm payment programs than other farm households and they receive a small share of the total payments relative to their numbers. However, the share of payments they receive is on par with their share of the total value of agricultural products they produce.
 d
Labor Allocations of Operators and
Spouses
One distinguishing feature of family farms is that the farm family commonly provides most of the labor used on the farm. Principal operators, their spouses, and unpaid workers provide more than two-thirds of the farm labor hours used on family farms. As farms grow larger, however, farm operators increasingly rely on hired labor. While very small farms (gross sales less than $10,000) and middle-size farms (gross sales of $10,000-$249,999) have limited use of hired labor, the average large farm (gross sales of $250,000 or more) depends on hired labor for about half of its total labor needs.
 d
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.
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 just as likely to identify nonfarm work as 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. The spouses of operators are about as likely to work off farm as the principal operator; however, a quarter of spouses report that they did not work outside the home.
When they work off the farm, farm operators and their spouses work in a variety of industries. The most common industries for operators with a wage and salary job are agriculture, other natural resource-related industries, and construction and services. Spouses employed in off-farm industries are concentrated in a few industries—20 percent work in education, 17 percent work in retail sales, and 22 percent work in the health services area.
Some operators and spouses manage their own nonfarm businesses, in addition to managing their farms. Operators with nonfarm businesses are concentrated in the construction industry and retail and other services. Nearly half of the spouses with a nonfarm business are in retail and other services.
d
d
|
