Farming and Farm Income
American agriculture and rural life underwent a tremendous transformation in the 20th century. Early 20th century agriculture was labor intensive, and it took place on many small, diversified farms in rural areas where more than half the U.S. population lived. Agricultural production in the 21st century, on the other hand, is concentrated on a smaller number of large, specialized farms in rural areas where less than a fourth of the U.S. population lives. The following material provides an overview of these trends, as well as trends in farm sector and farm household incomes.
After peaking at 6.8 million farms in 1935, the number of U.S. farms fell sharply until leveling off in the early 1970s. Falling farm numbers during this period reflected growing productivity in agriculture and increased nonfarm employment opportunities. Because the amount of farmland did not decrease as much as the number of farms, the remaining farms have more acreage, on average—about 444 acres in 2017 versus 155 acres in 1935. About 2.05 million farms are currently in operation.
Technological developments in agriculture have been influential in driving changes in the farm sector. Innovations in animal and crop genetics, chemicals, equipment, and farm organization have enabled continuing output growth without adding much to inputs. As a result, even as the amount of land and labor used in farming declined, total farm output more than doubled between 1948 and 2015.
Gross cash farm income (GCFI) is annual income before expenses and includes cash receipts, farm-related income, and Government farm program payments. GCFI is forecast at $428 billion in 2019, versus $326 billion (inflation-adjusted 2019 dollars) in 2000, with the increase across time largely due to higher cash receipts. GCFI is expected to remain relatively stable, averaging $428 billion from 2016 to 2019.
Gross farm income reflects the total value of agricultural output plus Government farm program payments. Net farm income (NFI)—which reflects income from production in the current year—is calculated by subtracting farm expenses from gross farm income. NFI considers both cash and noncash income and expenses. Inflation-adjusted net farm income is forecast to increase 8 percent in 2019, to $69.4 billion, after an expected decline in 2018. Inflation-adjusted farm production expenses are projected to decrease 1 percent in 2019.
Crop cash receipts totaled $195.4 billion in 2017. Receipts from corn and soybeans accounted for 43.2 percent of the total.
Cash receipts for animals and animal products totaled $176 billion in 2017. Cattle/calf receipts accounted for 38.3 percent of that total, while poultry/egg receipts accounted for 24.2 percent and dairy receipts 21.6 percent.
Gross cash farm income (GCFI) includes income from commodity cash receipts, farm-related income, and Government payments. Family farms (where the majority of the business is owned by the operator and individuals related to the operator) of various types together accounted for nearly 98 percent of U.S. farms in 2017. Small family farms (less than $350,000 in GCFI) accounted for 89 percent of all U.S. farms. Large-scale family farms ($1 million or more in GCFI) accounted for about 3 percent of farms but 39 percent of the value of production.
Median total household income among all farm households ($75,994) exceeded the median for all U.S. households ($61,372) in 2017. Slightly more than half of U.S. farms are very small, with annual farm sales under $10,000; the households operating these farms typically rely on off-farm sources for the majority of their household income. Median household income and income from farming increase with farm size; the typical household operating the largest commercial farms earned $346,218 in 2017, and most of that came from farming.
