Small family farms account for the majority of U.S. farms and half the farmland

In 2015, 99 percent of U.S. farms were family farms, where the principal operator and his or her relatives owned the majority of the business. Small family farms—those with less than $350,000 in annual gross cash farm income (GCFI)—accounted for about 90 percent of U.S. farms, half of all farmland, and a quarter of the value of production. Midsize and large-scale family farms, which have at least $350,000 in GCFI, made up only 9 percent of U.S. farms—but contributed most of the value of production (65 percent). Over the past 25 years, production has shifted to midsize and large-scale farms. Nevertheless, small family farms did produce a relatively large share of two commodities in 2015: poultry and eggs (57 percent) and hay (52 percent). This chart appears in the ERS report America’s Diverse Family Farms: 2016 Edition , released December 6, 2016.

Download higher resolution chart (2079 pixels by 1663, 300 dpi)