APPENDIX

EXPLANATION OF TERMS

FARMS 

Since 1850, when minimum criteria defining a farm for census
purposes first were established, the farm definition has been changed
nine times. The current definition, first used for the 1974 census, is
any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were
produced and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the census
year. 

FARMS BY VALUE OF SALES 

Farms by value of sales represents the gross market value before
taxes and production expenditures of all agricultural products sold or
removed from the place in 1992 regardless of who received or shared in
the payment. It includes receipts by the operator as well as the value
of any shares received by partners, landlords, contractors, and others
associated with the place. 

This report uses the following value of sales classifications: 

     $500,000 or more 
     $250,000 to $499,999 
     $100,000 to $249,999 
     $50,000 to $99,999 
     $25,000 to $49,999 
     $10,000 to $24,999 
     $5,000 to $9,999 
     $2,500 to $4,999 
      Less than $2,500 

Places having less than the minimum $1,000 sales in the census year
were counted as farms if they could normally be expected to produce
agricultural products in sufficient quantity to meet the requirements
of the definition. 

FARMS BY SIZE 

All farms were classified into selected size groups according to the
total land area in the farm. The land area of a farm is an operating
unit concept and includes land owned and operated as well as land
rented from others. Land rented to or assigned to a tenant was
considered the tenant's farm and not the owner's. 

Size of farm measured only by acres operated is often not a complete
measure of the size of the farm business due to large variations in the
productivity of land or in the intensity of activity. For example,
average value of farm products sold per acre of farmland can vary from
such extremes as $3,784 per acre in Suffolk County, NY, to $16 or less
per acre in Elko County, NV. 

MARKET VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS SOLD 

This category represents the gross market value before taxes and
production expenses of all agricultural products sold or removed from
the place in 1992, regardless of who received the payment. It includes
sales by the operator as well as the value of any shares received by
partners, landlords, contractors, or others associated with the
operation. In addition, it includes receipts from placing commodities
in the Commodity Credit Corporation (CCC) loan program in 1992. It does
not include payments received for participation in federal farm
programs nor does it include income from farm-related sources such as
customwork and other agricultural services, or income from nonfarm
sources. 

The value of crops sold in 1992 does not necessarily represent the
sales from crops harvested in 1992. Data may include sales from crops
produced in earlier years and exclude some crops produced in 1992, but
held in storage and not sold. For commodities, such as sugar beets and
wool, sold through a co-op which made payments in several installments,
respondents were requested to report the total value received in 1992. 

The value of agricultural products sold was requested of all operators.
If the operator failed to report this information, estimates were made
based on the amount of crops harvested, livestock or poultry inventory,
or number sold. Extensive estimation was required for operators growing
crops or livestock under contract. 

Caution should be used when comparing sales in 1992 with sales reported
in earlier censuses. Sales figures are expressed in current dollars and
have not been adjusted for inflation or deflation. 

FARM-RELATED INCOME AND DIRECT SALES 

FEDERAL FARM PROGRAMS

Payments from participation in federal farm programs are limited to
direct cash payments received by the farm operator in 1992. Included
are deficiency and diversion payments; wool payments; payments from the
Conservation Reserve and Wetlands Reserve Programs, other conservation
programs, and all other federal farm programs under which payments were
made directly to farm operators.

VALUE OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS SOLD DIRECTLY TO
   INDIVIDUALS FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION

Includes the value of agricultural products produced and sold directly
to individuals for human consumption from roadside stands, farmers'
markets, pick-your-own sites, etc. It excludes nonedible products such
as nursery products, cut flowers, wool, etc. 

OTHER FARM-RELATED INCOME

Includes gross income in 1992 before taxes and expenses from the sales
of farm byproducts and other sales and services closely related to the
principal functions of the farm business.

FARM PRODUCTION EXPENSES 

Total farm production expenses are those incurred in the operation
of the farm business. Expenses include the share of the expenditures
provided by landlords, contractors, and partners in the operation of
the farm business. Property taxes paid by landlords are excluded.
Expenditures for nonfarm activities; farm-related activities such as
providing customwork for others, the production and harvest of forest
products, and recreational services; and household expenses are
excluded. In 1992, as in other recent censuses, operators producing
crops, livestock, or poultry under contract often were unable or
unwilling to estimate the cost of production inputs furnished by the
contractors. As a consequence, extensive estimation was required for
contract producers. 

LAND IN FARMS AND LAND USE 

LAND IN FARMS

The acreage designated in the tables as "land in farms" consists
primarily of agricultural land used for crops, pasture, or grazing. It
also includes woodland and wasteland not actually under cultivation or
used for pasture or grazing, provided it was part of the farm
operator's total operations. Large acreages of woodland or wasteland
held for nonagricultural purposes were deleted from individual reports
during the processing operations. Land in farms includes acres set
aside under annual commodity acreage programs as well as acres in the
Conservation Reserve and Wetlands Reserve Programs for places meeting
the farm definition. 

Land in farms is an operating unit concept and includes land owned and
operated as well as land rented from others. Land used as rent free was
to be reported as land rented from others. All grazing land, except
land used under government permits on a per-head basis, was included as
"land in farms" provided it was part of a farm or ranch. Land
under the exclusive use of a grazing association was to be reported by
the grazing association and included as land in farms. All land in
Indian reservations used for growing crops or grazing livestock was to
be included as land in farms. Land in reservations not reported by
individual Indians or non-Indians was to be reported in the name of the
cooperative group that used the land. In some instances, an entire
Indian reservation was reported as one farm.

TOTAL CROPLAND

Includes the sum of acreage for cropland harvested, cropland used for
pasture or grazing, cropland used for cover crops, cropland on which
all crops failed, cropland in cultivated summer fallow, and idle
cropland.

HARVESTED CROPLAND

Includes all land from which crops were harvested, including hay cut,
all land in orchards, citrus groves, and nursery and greenhouse crops.
Land from which two or more crops were harvested was counted only once,
even though there was more than one use of that land.

PASTURELAND

Includes all types of pastureland. It includes cropland used only for
pasture or grazing, woodland pastured, and other pastureland and
rangeland.

IRRIGATION 

Irrigated land includes all land watered by artificial or controlled
means, such as sprinklers, furrows or ditches, and spreader dikes.
Included are supplemental, partial, and preplant irrigation. Each acre
was counted only once regardless of the number of times it was
irrigated or harvested. 

VALUE OF LAND AND BUILDINGS 

The value of land and buildings reported for the census is the farm
operators estimate of market value, i.e., the price for which the land
and buildings would sell at the time the census was taken. If the value
of land and buildings was not reported or was incomplete, an estimate
was supplied during processing by using the average value per acre of
land and buildings for farms of approximately the same size having
similar characteristics in the same area. 

For many groups of counties in the West, the maps exhibiting value of
land and buildings per farm show reverse patterns as compared with maps
showing value of land and buildings per acre, i.e., many counties in
high value-per-farm categories appear in low value-per-acre categories.
This reverse relationship between the two pattern maps happens because
a large proportion of land in farms is comprised of low value-per-acre
rangeland, and the extremely large average size of the farms and
ranches offsets the low average-per-acre value, resulting in high
average-per-farm values. 

MACHINERY AND EQUIPMENT ON PLACE 

Farm operators estimated the market value of all machinery and
equipment usually kept on the farm and used for the farm business. The
reported value represents an estimate of how much the machinery and
equipment would sell for in its present condition, not the replacement
cost or the depreciated value. 

Inventory of selected items of farm equipment includes only the
equipment owned, leased, rented, or temporarily borrowed from others
that was on the farm on December 31, 1992, and that was used for the
farm business in 1991 or 1992. These items were asked on a sample basis. 

AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS USED 

FERTILIZER

Data on acreage fertilized were collected for harvested cropland and
for cropland pasture and other pastureland. When the same crop was
fertilized two or more times, the acreage was to be reported only once.
If two different crops or two different plantings of the same crop were
harvested in 1992 from the same acreage, the acreage of each crop or
planting fertilized was to be reported only once.

OTHER AGRICULTURAL CHEMICALS
Data include the cost of insecticides, herbicides, fungicides,
nematicides, and other pesticides and chemicals used on the farm in
1992. These data include the cost of application. 

Acres treated more than one time with the same chemical are included
only once. However, the cost of all the materials applied was to be
reported. When multipurpose chemicals were used, the acreage treated
for each purpose was included. These items were asked on a sample
basis.

SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF OPERATORS 

FULL OWNERS

Operators who operate only the land they own.

PART OWNERS

Operators who operate land they own and also land they rent from
others.

TENANTS

Operators who operate only the land they rent from others or work on
shares for others.

OPERATORS OF HISPANIC ORIGIN

In 1992, data for operators of Hispanic origin were collected as
operators of Spanish origin. Statistics for these operators were
tabulated by race. Hispanic is a person of Mexican, Puerto Rican, or
other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race.  Persons of Hispanic
origin may be of any race.

OCCUPATION OF OPERATOR 

Each farm operator was asked to classify his or her principal
occupation as "Farming" or "Other" according to which
occupation accounted for the majority (50 percent or more) of the
operator's worktime in 1992. For partnerships, the worktime of all of
the members of the partnerships together was considered in determining
principal occupation. 

FARMS BY TYPE OF ORGANIZATION 

Individual or family operation (sole proprietorship), excluding
partnership and corporation. 
Partnership operation, including family partnership. 
Corporation, including family corporations. 
Other, including farms operated as cooperatives, estates and
trusts, and abnormal farms such as institutional farms, Indian
reservations, grazing associations, and experimental farms.

LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY 

INVENTORY

Livestock and poultry inventories are reported as of December 31, 1992.
These include all animals kept on the place regardless of ownership,
including livestock or poultry being custom fed or fed on contract for
others.

SALES

Livestock and poultry sold include all animals sold or removed from the
place during the year regardless of ownership. Those sold for a
landlord or given to others in trade or in payment for goods and
services as well as those custom fed for others were to be included.
Animals bought and sold within a 30-day period were to be excluded. 

The value of livestock and poultry sold represents the gross sales
value before deducting any marketing or production costs. For livestock
or poultry fed under contract for others, the estimated market value is
at the time they were taken from the place.

CROPS HARVESTED 

In 1992, nearly all of the acres reported for individual crops
represent acres harvested except for a small part of the acreage of
corn, sorghum, peanuts, soybeans, and cowpeas counted as harvested that
was hogged or grazed when the crop was mature or almost mature. Since
more than one crop may have been harvested from the same land during
the same crop year, the sum of acres of all crops harvested exceeds the
acreage of land from which crops were harvested. 

CASH GRAINS

All cash grain crops were collected. The major cash grains that are
shown in this publication include corn for grain, sorghum for grain,
wheat, oats, barley, rice, soybeans for beans, dry edible beans and
peas, and sunflowers. The maps are limited to the acres harvested for
each of these crops.

OTHER FIELD CROPS

All other field crops were collected in the census. Sugar crops,
peanuts, cotton, Irish potatoes, tobacco, hay crops, canola, and field
seeds are shown in our maps. These represent the major crops in this
category.

VEGETABLES 

The individual acres of each kind of vegetable harvested were
reported as well as the acreage of land from which vegetables were
harvested. The maps are limited to the acres of major vegetables
harvested. 

FRUITS, NUTS, AND BERRIES 

In 1992, data for individual fruits, nuts, and berries were
collected. Also, the total land in bearing and nonbearing fruit
orchards, citrus or other groves, vineyards, and nut trees was
reported. The maps show the major crop acres harvested by type of
fruits, nuts, or berries. 

NURSERY AND GREENHOUSE CROPS 

These data are a summation of the individual dollar value of items
reported. Included are all nursery and greenhouse crops grown on this
place for sale--wholesale or retail. Included are items sold on
consignment. Only the major categories of crops are represented in
these maps.