1

Asian Farmers 

Up 21 percent since 2007; sold $5.2 billion in agricultural products in 2012.

United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.agcensus.usda.gov

(800)727-9540

ACH12-9/September 2014

Highlights

In 2012, the number of Asian farmers in the United States was 22,140. This 

was a 21 percent increase since 2007, when the last agriculture census was 

conducted. Nationally Asian farmers were less than 1 percent of the country’s 

3.2 million 

farmers in 

2012. Sixty-four 

percent lived 

in four states: 

California, 

Hawaii, Florida, 

and Texas. As a 

proportion of the 

state’s farmers, 

Hawaii ranked 

first; 38 percent 

of all farmers 

in Hawaii were 

Asian. 

Principal Operators

Of total Asian farmers, 13,669 were principal operators, that is, the person in 

charge of the farm’s day-to-day operations. Farms with Asian principal operators 

increased 22 

percent between 

2007 and 2012. 

In contrast, 

principal 

operators of all 

farms declined 

4 percent. 

(Table 1)

Table 1

Asian Farm Operators, 2007 and 2012

2007 2012

%

change

Asian farm operators 18,289 22,140 +21%

Total farm operators 3.3 million 3.2 million -3%

Asians as % of total 0.6% 0.7%

Asian principal operators 11,214 13,669 +22%

Total principal operators 2.2 million 2.1 million -4%*

Asians as % of total 0.5% 0.6%

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

Asian Farm Operators, by County, 2012

operators

0

1 - 9

10 - 24

25 - 99

100 - 249

250- 1,499

U.S. = 22,140

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

63 percent . . . 

. . . of Asian farms specialized 

in fruits, nuts, vegetables, or 

nursery crops in 2012.

About the Numbers

This Highlights document includes 

data for operators reporting their race 

only as Asian. An additional 1,927 

respondents to the 2012 Census of 

Agriculture indicated they are Asian in 

addition to one or more other races. 

For more information on Asian farmers, 

see http://bit.ly/REGprofiles.

*Statistically significant change. See 

http://bit.ly/AgCensusFAQs.
2 USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

Asian operators sold an average of $382,998 in agricultural 

products, about double the sales average of farms overall. 

Table 3 

Farms with Asian Principal Operator, by Farm Size and Sales, 2012

(percent)

Asian-operated Farms All Farms

Farm Size

< 50 acres 71 39

50 to 179 acres 19 30

180 to 999 acres 8 23

1,000 acres or more 2 8

Total 100 100

Farm Sales

< $10,000 43 56

$10,000 to $49,999 22 19

$50,000 to $249,999 16 13

$250,000 to $999,999 10 8

$1,000,000 or more 9 4

Total 100 100

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

Top Commodities

More than two thirds of Asian farms specialized in specialty 

crops, with fruits and tree nuts the most common specialty, 

followed by vegetables and greenhouse and nursery crops. 

(Table 4)

Table 4

Top Farms by Commodity Specializationa, 2012

(Asian principal operator)

No. of Farms % of Farms

Fruits and nuts 4,924 36

Vegetables 2,109 15

Greenhouse and nursery 1,656 12

Combination cropsb 1,266 9

Beef cattle 1,192 9

a

More than half of a farm’s sales come from that commodity.

b

Farms with no single majority commodity and farms specializing in miscellaneous commodities.

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

To learn more about Asian farms and farmers, the 

2012 Census of Agriculture, and how to access 

national, state, and county data, go to:

www.agcensus.usda.gov

Asian operators were younger than operators overall. Only 

26 percent of Asian principal operators were 65 years or 

older, compared with 33 percent of all principal operators. 

Asian principal operators had slightly less Internet access 

in 2012 than principal operators of all farms (68 percent 

versus 70 percent ), but their Internet access increased 

20 percentage points between 2007 and 2012. They were 

more likely to be female, have farming as their primary 

occupation, and work some days off the farm. (Table 2)

Table 2 

Asian Principal Operators, 2007 and 2012

Asian Principal Operators All Principal

2007 2012 Operators, 2012

(percent)

Age

< 35 years 5 5 6

35 to 64 years 70 69 61

65 years+ 25 26 33

Gender

Male / Female 82 / 18 80 / 20 86 / 14

Primary occupation

Farming / Other 57 / 43 60 / 40 48 / 52

Worked off farm

Yes/No 71 / 29 67 / 33 61 / 39

Years on present farm

0 - 4 18 15 8

5 - 9 21 23 14

10 + 61 62 78

Internet access

Yes / No 48 / 52 68 / 32 70 / 30

Average age (years) 56.4 56.8 58.3

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

Farm Size and Sales

Asian principal operators sold $5.2 billion in agricultural 

products in 2012, including $3.2 billion in crop sales and 

$2.0 billion in livestock sales. They operated 1.5 million 

acres of farmland. Asian sales represented 1.3 percent of 

total U.S. agriculture sales, and Asian-operated farmland 

accounted for 0.2 percent of U.S. farmland. 

Farms with Asian operators tend to be smaller in size than 

farms overall, but have higher sales. In 2012, 90 percent of 

farms with an Asian principal operators had fewer than 180 

acres. Two thirds had sales of less than $50,000. (Table 3)