Q. How many
minority farmers are there?
A. Minority farm operators, however
defined, make up a small share of all U.S. farmers. Most
minority farmers operate small farms, although most small
farms are not operated by minorities. Census of agriculture
data are often used to examine the characteristics of
minority operators. Although other sources of data provide
information on minority farmers, census data extend further
into the past and provide reliable statistics for very
small minorities, particularly at the State level.
Obtaining a count of minority farmers is difficult because some
of the groups overlap. According to the 1997
Census of Agriculture, 47,700 farm operators, or 2.5 percent
of all U.S. farm operators, were nonwhite. These included 18,500
Blacks, 10,600 American Indians, 8,700 Asians or Pacific Islanders,
and 9,800 “others.” About 27,700 Hispanics also farmed.
Approximately 9,000 of the Hispanic operators, however, are also
included in the nonwhite count, since Hispanics may be of any race.
Although women are a majority in the U.S. population, they are
a minority among farm operators. Only 165,100 farm operators, or
8.6 percent of the U.S. total, were women in 1997, but their numbers
are increasing. Of these, 5,100 were included in the nonwhite count
and 2,500 were Hispanic. The Census Bureau counts only one primary
operator per farm; it does not classify women who farm alongside
their husbands as operators, unless they are the primary operators.
References
Minority &
Women Farmers in the U.S.—Farms operated by Blacks
and by women are generally smaller in acreage and in sales
than the national average, while Asian and Pacific Islander
farms average more than double the average of sales for
all U.S. farms. Agricultural Outlook (05/98).
Limited-Resource
Farmers: Their Risk Management Needs—Socially disadvantaged,
small, and limited-opportunity farmers tend not to purchase
crop insurance nor to participate in insurance-type programs operated
by USDA. This articles traces the reasons why. Agricultural Outlook
(05/97).
Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Rural
Areas: Progress and Stagnation—Rural minorities lag rural
Whites and urban minorities on many crucial economic and social
measures. This report examines rural Black, Hispanic, Native American,
and Asian/Pacific Islander populations and their economic well-being
in the 1980s, an economically difficult decade for rural areas.
AER731 (08/96).
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