Featured States
Documentation
ARMS annually provides the data needed to develop standard financial statements
(income statement, balance sheet, financial ratios) as well as structural
characteristics (such as the number, age, and years of schooling of farm
operators) for various classifications of farms. In addition, selected
financial information including farm operator household income is provided for
farm operator households and family farms. These data have been made available
for production regions that consist of multiple States or sections of
States.
ERS and NASS were appropriated additional funding in 2003 for use in restoring
and expanding the ARMS survey program. The expansion component of the 2003
funding focused on having sufficient sample size to publish statistically
defensible estimates at the State-level for 15 States.
Scope and Coverage
The 15 States for which State-level estimates are published were chosen based
on their contribution to cash receipts from the sale of crop and livestock
production. The 15 States with the largest average value of cash receipts over
the 1997-2001 time frame are California, Texas, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas,
Minnesota, Illinois, North Carolina, Florida, Wisconsin, Georgia, Arkansas,
Washington, Indiana, and Missouri. Together these 15 States account for 65
percent of total U.S. cash receipts.
Given this is a new expansion of the survey sample, State-level data are available begriming in
2003.
Data collected for the whole farm include operating characteristics, production
practices, farm business financial information, and information the farm
operator's household, such as off-farm income. Financial information
includes receipts from crop and livestock sales, production contracts, and
government payments. Data are collected on expenses incurred in operating the
farm, including the inputs necessary for crop and livestock production, and
general farm business expenses, including repairs and maintenance, taxes,
insurance and rent, and utilities that cannot be associated with a specific
farm enterprise. Information on assets used in the farm operation (including
those assets that are owned and those not wholly owned but operated by the
farm) and liabilities incurred in operating the farm is also collected. In
addition data on nonfarm and farm-related income, and nonfarm assets are
collected for the farm operator's household.
Methodology
Each farm sampled in the ARMS represents a known
number of farms with similar attributes, so
that weighting the data for each farm by the
number of farms it represents provides a basis
for calculating estimates for the target population.
Whole-farm survey weights are adjusted to
provide coverage of official USDA farm numbers
at the national and regional levels. The weights
have also been adjusted to provide coverage
of official USDA estimates of the production
of major crops and livestock.
The target population for the whole-farm survey
is all U.S. farms in the 48 contiguous States.
A farm is defined as any place from which $1,000
or more of agricultural products (crops and livestock)
were sold or normally would have been sold during
the survey year.
The financial information was prepared based
on the accounting methods recommended by the
Farm Financial Standards Council. In addition,
selected financial information including farm
operator household income, is provided for farm
operator households and family farms.
Please see Farm
and Operator Households: Structure and Finance
Documentation for additional details
about the farm sector structure, business, and
financial estimates.
For additional information on ARMS, see ARMS
Documentation.
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