1

Of the 2.1 million farms in the United States in 2012, 97 percent were family 

owned operations. Eighty-eight percent of all farms were small family farms with 

less than $350,000 in gross cash farm income. Mid-size and large family farms 

accounted for 9 percent of farms. Only 3 percent of U.S. farms were not family 

owned. 

Small family 

farms operated 

48 percent of all 

farmland, owned 

47 percent of 

the value of farm 

real estate (land 

and buildings), 

accounted for 

20 percent of 

agriculture sales, 

and earned

5 percent of the 

country’s net farm 

income. 

(Table 1)

States ranged in 

the proportion of 

their farms that 

are small farms 

from 97 percent 

in West Virginia 

to 71 percent in 

North Dakota. 

(Fig. 1)

Small Farms 

88 percent of U.S. farms, 48 percent of farmland, 20 percent of sales

United States Department of Agriculture

National Agricultural Statistics Service

www.agcensus.usda.gov

(800)727-9540

ACH12-34/September 2016

Highlights

Top States

(small farms as percent 

of total)

West Virginia 97

Tennessee 95

New Hampshire 95

Alabama 95

Oklahoma 94

Farm Typology

The 2012 Census of Agriculture farm 

typology categorizes farms on the 

basis of ownership, whether farming 

is the principal operator’s primary occupation, and gross cash farm income 

(GCFI), a measure of the total receipts 

the operator receives from the farming 

operation. For more information on 

farm typology, see 

http://bit.ly/2012AgCensusTypology.

To learn more about small and other 

family farms, the 2012 Census of Agriculture, and how to access national, 

state, and county data, visit 

www.agcensus.usda.gov.

Fig. 1

Small Family Farms as Percent of Total Farms, by State, 2012

percent

71 - 74.9

75 - 79.9

80 - 84.9

85 - 89.9

90 - 94.9

95 +

U.S. = 88.2%

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

Table 1

Profile of U.S. Farms, by Type, 2012

U.S.

Total

Family Farms Nonfamily

Small Midsize Large Farms

percent of U.S. total

No. of farms 2.1 million 88 6 3 3

Farmland 915 mil. acres 48 20 20 11

Value of land

and buildings $2.3 trillion 47 20 25 8

Agriculture sales $394.6 billion 20 19 45 16

Net farm income $78.6 billion 5 26 56 13

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.
2 USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Top Commodities

Small family farms held 40% of the U.S. cattle inventory and 

89% of the horse inventory in 2012, and grew 64% of all acres 

in forage production. A third of small family farms specialized in 

beef cattle (meaning that more than half of their income came 

from beef cattle) and 25 percent specialized in production of a 

variety of crops.

Types of Small Farms

Small family farms include four types of operations:

• Farms whose operator has a primary occupation other

than farming. This is the largest category of farms,

accounting for 38 percent of all U.S. farms.

• Farms whose operator’s primary occupation is farming.

This includes farms with:

▪ Low sales (annual gross cash farm income is less

than $150,000)

▪ Moderate sales (annual gross cash farm income is

$150,000 to $349,000)

• Retirement farms (principal operator is retired but

continues to farm on a small scale). Sixteen percent of 

U.S. farms are retirement farms.

Small family farms together accounted for 58 percent of 

direct-to-consumer sales, selling through farmers markets, 

roadside farm stands, and community-supported agriculture (CSA) arrangements. They accounted for 17 percent 

of organic sales. (Table 2)

Table 2

Small Family Farms: Selected Agriculture Assets and Receipts

(percent of U.S. total)

All 

Small

Family

Farms

Primary

Occupation

Off-farm

Primary Occupation 

On-farm

Retirement

Low

Sales

Moderate

Sales

Share of farms 88 38 16 5 29

Assets

Farmland 48 14 11 10 12

Value of land and 

buildings 47 16 10 8 13

Receipts

Agriculture sales 20 4 4 8 3

Organic sales 17 2 5 9 1

Direct-to-consumer sales 58 14 20 13 11 

Government 

payments 44 13 8 10 13

Subcategories may not add exactly to small family farm total due to rounding.

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

Producer Characteristics

Only 16 percent of small family farms depended upon the 

farm for the majority of their household income in 2012. 

However, 76 percent of operators in the moderate-sales 

group did so, with 82 percent having positive net income 

from their farm. In the low-sales group, 31 percent depended upon the farm for the majority of household income. 

Operators whose primary occupation is off the farm were 

the youngest small farm operators (52.8 years). Operators 

of retirement farms were the oldest (69.3 years – eleven 

years older than the 

average for all farmers). 

Retirement farms and 

low-sales farms had 

higher proportions of 

female principal operators (17 and 18 percent, 

respectively) than did all 

U.S. farms (14 percent). 

(Table 3)

Table 3

Small Family Farms: Key Characteristics of Principal Operators, 2012

(percent)

All 

Small

Family

Farms

Primary

Occupation

Off-farm

Primary Occupation 

On-farm

Retirement

Low

Sales

Moderate

Sales

Gender

Male / Female 85 / 15 87 / 13 82 / 18 96 / 4 83 / 17

Worked off farm

Yes / No 64 / 36 95 / 5 56 / 44 35 / 65 32 / 68

Years on present farm

<10 / 10+ 23 / 77 30 / 70 27 / 73 15 / 85 14 / 86

Internet access

Yes/ No 68 / 32 75 / 25 67 / 33 72 / 28 59 / 41

Positive income 

from farming

Yes / No 41 / 59 36 / 64 44 / 56 82 / 18 41 / 59

50% or more of 

household income 

from farming

Yes / No 16 / 84 6/ 94 31/ 69 76/ 24 11 / 89

Average age (years) n/a 52.8 54.6 54.5 69.3

Principal operator is the person responsible for the day-to-day operation of the farm.

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.

Retirement Farms: Top States 

(percent of farms)

West Virginia 41 

New Mexico 37 

Mississippi 37 

Alabama 37 

Georgia 37 

Tennessee 36

South Carolina 36 

Texas 35 

Florida 35

Oregon 35

Source: USDA NASS, 2012 Census of Agriculture.