For further information, contact

 

Christine E. Whitt	christine.whitt1@usda.gov
Katherine Lacy	katherine.lacy@usda.gov
Katherine Lim	katherine.lim@usda.gov

Recommended citation format for this publication:

Whitt, C., Lacy, K., & Lim, K. (2023). America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance 2023 Edi- tion (Report No. EIB-263). U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

 

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American farms represent a diverse set of business operations  and  farm  operators.  This  annual report describes the characteristics of U.S. farms and  ranches  using  the  most  recent  data  from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey (ARMS), an annual survey conducted by USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS). Statistics are presented using a farm classification developed by USDA, ERS to categorize farms  groups with some common characteristics. The classifications used are mainly d on each farm’s annual revenue, the main occupation of the  farm’s  principal  operator,  and  ownership (family  versus  nonfamily).  This  edition  also contains  two  new  sections.   First,  the  report provides information on the usage of credit by lender type and farm size in 2022. Second, the report explores the differences in farm operations in 2022 by race and ethnicity of the operators. The section compares farm structure, financial stress, principal operator household well-being, credit  usage,  average   Government  payments received,   and   participation   in   Federal   crop insurance  between  socially  disadvantaged  and nondisadvantaged operations.

 

Farm Typology

 

The farm typology, d in 2013 by USDA, ERS, focuses primarily on

the “family farm,” a farm in which the majority of the business is owned by an operator and/or any individual related by blood, marriage, or adoption,

including relatives who do not live in the operator’s household. Since the

1970s, USDA has defined a farm as anyplace that, during a given year,

produced and sold—or normally would have produced and sold—at least

$1,000 of agricultural products (not adjusted for inflation). USDA uses acres   of crops and head of livestock to determine whether a farm or ranch with sales of less than $1,000 could normally produce and sell the minimum amount

required to be categorized as a farm. Farm size is measured by gross cash farm income (GCFI),a measure of the farm’s revenue that includes sales of crops    and livestock, Government payments, other farm-related income, and fees

received by operators from production contracts.

 

This report used data from the Agricultural Resource Management

Survey (ARMS), an annual survey conducted by USDA, National

Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) and USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS). Most of the analysis in this report is d on a total

sample of approximately 19,100farms from the 2022 ARMS.

As of December 12, 2023, the 2022 ARMS sample weights have

been calibrated using targets from the 2017 Census of Agriculture. Therefore, the statistics summarized in this report are subject to

revision after the publication of the 2022 Census of Agriculture data, when the targets will be d using that Census.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2       America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

For 2022, USDA, NASS implemented a targeted sampling strategy     to increase the number of operations with Hispanic and non-White     producers who received the 2022 ARMS. The larger resulting sample   of these operations allowed researchers to separately report information  on Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black or African American, non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native, and non-Hispanic Asian

operations in a new section of the report.

 

 

Small family farms (GCFIless than $350,000)

• Retirement farms: Farms whose principal operators report having retired from farming while continuing to farm on a small scale.

• Off-farm-occupation farms: Farms whose principal operators report  a primary occupation other than farming.

• Farming-occupation farms: Farms whose principal operators report  farming as their primary occupation. Farming-occupation farms are

further sorted two classes:

• Low sales: Farms with a GCFI of less than $150,000.

• Moderate sales: Farms with a GCFI between $150,000 and $349,999.

Midsize family farms (GCFI between $350,000 and $999,999)   Large-scale family farms (GCFI of $1,000,000 or more)

• Large farms: Farms with a GCFI between $1,000,000 and $4,999,999.

• Very large farms: Farms with a GCFI of $5,000,000 or more. Nonfamily farms

• Any farm where any operator and any individuals related to them do not own a majority (50 percent) of the business.

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition       3

 

Table 1

Number of farms and distribution of farms, value of production, and acres operated by the farm typology, 2022

 

Farm type		Number of farms	Percentage of farms	Percentage of acres operated	Percentage of value of production
Small	Retirement	253,870	12.7	4.4	1.1
	Off-farm	782,464	39.2	13.8	4.0
	Low sales	616,083	30.9	17.1	4.9
	Moderate sales	104,024	5.2	11.1	8.7
Midsize		115,595	5.8	21.4	19.1
Large- scale	Large	59,802	3.0	20.6	29.0
	Very large	8,134	0.4	4.2	22.8
Nonfamily		54,450	2.7	7.3	10.4
Total		1,994,421

Note: Acres operated is equal to (owned land + leased land) – (leased land to others). The total acres operated were 847.4 million, and the total value of production was $449.6 billion in 2022.   Due to rounding, percentages may not sum to 100 or match values reported in figure 1.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4       America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

Farms, Production, and Farmland

 

Most U.S. farms are small family farms; these farms operate on 46

percent of U.S. agricultural land and ac for 19 percent of the total   value of production (figure 1).

• In 2022, approximately 88 percent of all farms were small family farms and operated 46 percent of U.S. agricultural land.

• Large-scale family farms aced for 52 percent of the total value of production and 25 percent of agricultural land in 2022. Midsize fam-  ily farms aced for 21 percent of agricultural land and 19 percent  of the total value of production.

• In total, family farms aced for about 97 percent of total farms and 90 percent of total production in 2022.

• Nonfamily farms aced for the remaining 3 percent of farms.

Among nonfamily farms, 16 percent had a GCFI of $1 million or

more. These large-scale nonfamily farms aced for 89 percent of  all nonfamily farms’ production. Nonfamily farms vary widely in size, income, and ownership structure and include partnerships of unrelat- ed persons, nonfamily corporations, and farms with a hired manager   unrelated to the owners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition       5

 

Figure 1

Distribution of farms, land operated, and value of production by farm type, 2022

 

Percent
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10
0 Percentage of farms             Percentage of agricultural land operated Small family farms    Midsize family farms    Large-scale family farms    Nonfamily farms

Note: Land operated is the sum of owned land and leased land minus land leased to others. Due to rounding, numbers may not add to 100 percent.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

Large-scale family farms dominate the production of many selected   commodities (figure 2).

• Large-scale family farms aced for a majority of the value of beef  (50 percent), hogs (56 percent), cotton (65 percent), cash grains and   soybeans (51 percent), dairy (76 percent), and specialty crops (65 per- cent) production in 2022. Small family farms produced the majority   of hay (53 percent).

• Small family farms produced 45 percent of the total value of U.S.

poultry and egg output in 2022. Most poultry and egg production is done under contracts, with a contractor paying a fee to a farmer who raises poultry to maturity or manages the egg-laying operation.

• In 2022, 26 percent of the value of beef production occurred on small family farms. These farms often have cow/calf operations, while large-  scale family farms are more likely to operate feedlots.

 

 

 

 

6       America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

• In 2022, the value of production by nonfamily farms ranged from 5 percent for poultry and eggs and hay production to 19 percent for    specialty crop production.

• Compared to 2021, the value of hog production increased from 35  percent to 56 percent in 2022 for large-scale family farms and de-    creased from 35 percent to 10 percent in 2022 for nonfamily farms. Similarly, a large year-over-year change occurred in the value of pro- duction of specialty crops from large-scale family farms (39 percent  in 2021 to 65 percent in 2022) and nonfamily farms (43 percent in

2021 to 19 percent in 2022). However, the value of production shares in 2022 was similar to the shares in 2019 and 2020 of the selected

commodities by farm type (figure 2).

Figure 2

Value of production of selected commodities by farm type, 2022

 

Percent of value of production
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10	- 5 - 5 11 10 9 12 12 19 19 21       31 21 50 56 51 65 76 65 13 45 53 18 25 26 19   9 15 15 8 7
0 Hay               Beef              Hogs             Cash grains and soybeans Large-scale family farms        W Nonfamily farms

Note: Cash grains include barley, corn, rice, sorghum, wheat, and oats. Specialty crops is a broad term that includes fresh or dried fruits, tree nuts, vegetables, beans (pulses), and horticulture nursery crops. Due to rounding, numbers may not add to 100 percent.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition       7

Farm Financial Performance

 

The Operating Profit Margin (OPM)—the share of gross income that is   profit—is one way to gauge a farm’s financial performance. Most small

family farms have an OPM of less than 10 percent—indicating potentially   more financial vulnerability—whereas most midsize, large, and very large     family farms reported OPMs above 10 percent in 2022 (figure 3).

• In 2022, between 52 and 79 percent of small family farms—depend- ingon the farm type (retirement, off-farm occupation, low sales,

moderate sales)—had an OPM in the high-risk zone (less than 10 percent OPM).

• Large farms in 2022 were most likely to have OPMs in the low-risk   zone (OPM of at least 25 percent) at 51 percent and least likely to be in the high-risk zone at 27 percent.

• The share of farms in the medium-risk zone (OPM between 10

percent and 25 percent) ranged from 4 percent (retirement farms) to

26 percent (very large farms). For each farm type, the percentage of farms in the medium-risk zone was smaller than the share of high-   and low-risk farms.

• Compared with 2021, the percentage of small family farms in the

low-risk zone increased or remained the same in 2022. All other farm types showed a decline in the percentage of farms in the low-risk

zone in 2022 relative to 2021. This could be due in part to the large increase in prices received compared to the smaller increase in input costs in 2022, resulting in record-high net farm income. However,   these returns were not equally distributed across all commodities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8       America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

 

Figure 3

Farms by operating profit margin and farm type, 2022

 

Percent of farms in group
100 80 60 40 20 0	6                 3                     1                 <1                   <1                                    1                 4 7   31   39   40 25 11 19 15 25 6 - 4   - 5   51 8 15 16 23 26   64 74 79 52 21 59 69 37 27 34   Retirement    Of-farm    Low sales    Moderate occupation                          sales     Small family farms High-risk level (OPM<10 percent) Large      Very large   Nonfamily                farms   Large-scale family farms Medium-risk level (OPM 10-25 percent) All farms
		Low-risk level (OPM>25 percent)     Ratio not calculated

Note: The Operating Profit Margin (OPM) ratio is defined as:

. OPM ratios are

not calculated for operations with zero or negative gross farm income as the OPM for these  operations are undefined or do not reflect the financial position of the farm operation. Gross farm income can be negative due to decreases in the value of inventory. Due to rounding,     numbers may not add to 100 percent.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

Farm Use of Credit and Loan

Amounts

 

Debt is an important resource for farmers and ranchers to support the

capital needs of their operations. This section reports the share of farms in each condensed typology group that held farm debt at the end of 2022 to  highlight differences in the use of agricultural credit across operations. We examine reported loans from five sources: the Farm Credit System, Farm   Service Agency, commercial banks, trade credit (includes input suppliers,   implement dealers, co-ops, and other merchants), and all other lenders

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition       9

(includes loans serviced by the Small Business Administration, saving associ- ations, State and y government lender agencies, life insurance com-

panies, contractors, individuals, credit s, credit cards, and other debts such as unpaid bills).

About 26 percent of all U.S. farms held any debt in 2022, and thema-   jority (67 percent) of farms with debt used one lender.

• Over half of each farm type reported loans owed to a commercial

bank in 2022 (figure 4). In contrast, 8 to 10 percent of farms with    loans, depending on farm type, reported having a loan serviced by    the USDA, Farm Service Agency. In some cases, the agency provides guarantees for loans originated by commercial banks and the Farm    Credit System in addition to its direct lender role.

• At 31 percent of farms with debt, small family farms that reported holding any debt were less likely to have a loan through the Farm

Credit System compared to all other farm sizes. However, small fam- ily farms had the largest share (28 percent) receiving a loan through   other lenders relative to large-scale family farms (21 percent) and

nonfamily farms (18 percent).

• For all credit lender types except trade credit lenders, large-scale fami- ly farms with loans had higher average loan amounts relative to small  and midsize family farms. This is consistent with the fact that farming is capital-intensive and large-scale family farms account for the ma-     jority of U.S. agricultural production. In addition, among operations  that reported holding debt, large-scale family farms had the largest

percentage (76 percent) of farms with loans relative to all other farm

sizes.

• In general, small family farms with debt had lower average loan

amounts relative to all other farm sizes, ranging from $87,000 to $164,000, depending on the lender type (figure 5).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

 

Figure 4

Loans serviced by lender type and farm typology for farms with loans, 2022

 

Percent
60 50 40 30 20 10 0	57         56                                                                               42  43 40              31   28   25 17   17                           21   18 8   10    8    9 12
	Farm Credit System		Farm Service Agency	Commercial bank           Trade credit             Other lenders
		Small family farms    Midsize family farms				Large-scale family farms		Nonfamily farms

Note: All other lenders include loans serviced by the Small Business Administration, sav-

ings associations, State and y government lender agencies, life insurance companies, contractors, individuals, credit s, credit cards, and other debts such as unpaid bills.

Trade credit includes loans serviced by input suppliers, implement dealers, co-ops, and other  merchants. Analysis is limited to farms funding their operation using debt in 2022. The credit   lender categories are not mutually exclusive since farms can have loans with multiple lenders.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition      11

 

Figure 5

Average loan amount by credit lender and farm typology for farms with debt, 2022

 

Thousand dollars
1,800 1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0	1,614                         159
	Farm Credit System		Farm Service Agency	Commerical banks			Trade credit           All other lenders
		Small family farms   a Midsize family farms				Large-scale family farms			Nonfamily farms

Note: All other lenders include loans serviced by the Small Business Administration, sav-

ings associations, State and y government lender agencies, life insurance companies, contractors, individuals, credit s, credit cards, and other debts such as unpaid bills.

Trade credit includes loans serviced by input suppliers, implement dealers, co-ops, and other  merchants. Analysis is limited to farms funding their operation using debt in 2022. The credit   lender categories are not mutually exclusive since farms can have loans with multiple lenders.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

Farm Operator Household

Well-Being

 

This section presents information on the farm household for the principal  operator (the operator most responsible for decision-making) of each farm operation. Only family farm households are included here since house-

hold-level statistics are not calculated for nonfamily farm operations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

As in previous years, the median total income of all U.S. family farm      households ($95,418) was greater in 2022 than the median income of   all U.S. households ($74,580) (figure 6). The median total household    income for all family farms in 2022 increased from $92,239 in 2021.

• Median total farm household annual income varied across farm types, with very large family farms having the largest median household

income at more than $1 million, compared with low-sales family

farms at $70,200. Low-sales and retirement farms ($71,837) had

median household incomes below all U.S. households ($74,580) and also below U.S. households with self-employment income ($97,856). Median and average total household income increased for all farm

types except moderate and midsize family farms from 2021 to 2022.

• The percentage of family farms with income below the U.S. median    income level varied from 10.8 to 53.0 percent, depending on the type of farm (table 2).

• Most family farms also have higher wealth than the median house-    hold in the United States. The share of family farms that have wealth below the median held by all U.S. households ranged from almost     0.3 to 3.8 percent, depending on the type of farm. The value of land comprises the largest share of most farm households’ wealth.

• Operators of small family farms—especially off-farm-occupation and low-sales farms—often reported losses from farming. In 2022, the

average farm income among off-farm-occupation farms was -$2,943, and among low-sales farms, it was -$2,976 (table 3).

• Total household income from off-farm sources, on average, increased from 2021 to 2022 for all farm types except midsize and very large     family farms. This year-to-year increase was largely due to an increase in average earned off-farm income sources, such as self-employment   and wage/salary jobs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition      13

• About 84 percent of all U.S. farm households earn the majority of

their total household income from off-farm sources and often use

off-farm income to cover some portion of farm expenses. As farm size increases, the percentage of households relying on off-farm income

decreases. While self-employment and wage/salary jobs are the prima- ry sources of off-farm income for farm households, unearned off-

farm income sources (e.g., public and private pensions, interest and dividend payments, asset sales, Social Security payments, and other

income sources) provide asignificant share of off-farm income relative

to total off-farm income. This was particularly true for low-sales and  retirement farms, which in 2022 reported an average of $41,717 and $45,842, respectively, in unearned off-farm income.

Figure 6

Median operator household income by farm type, 2022

 

Thousand dollars
1,600 1,400 1,200 1,000 800 600 400 200 0	205.3 125.7                                  115.4  95.4   70.2
	Retirement     Of-farm      Low sales     Moderate occupation                            sales	Midsize family   farms	Large       Very large	All family farms
	Small family farms                                                           Large-scale family farms  Median income, all U.S. households, 2022 ($74,580)  Median income, all U.S. households with self-employment income, 2022 ($97,856)

Note: Farm households are the households of the principal operator on family farms.

Operator household income is not estimated for nonfamily farms. It includes both farm and    off-farm income household members received. Half of all households had incomes above the median and half had incomes below it.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis-  tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data; and U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 2022 Current Population Survey, March

supplement, for all U.S. households.

 

 

 

 

 

14     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

 

Table 2

Farm households with income or wealth below the median for all U.S. households, 2022

 

	Farm households with...
	Income below U.S. median ($74,580)	Wealth below U.S. median ($140,560)
Percent of farm households
Small family farms
Retirement	51.5	0.3
Off-farm occupation	26.4	1.6
Low sales	53.0	2.1
Moderate sales	34.8	2.8
Midsize family farms
	20.4	3.5
Large-scale family farms
Large	11.3	3.8
Very large	10.8	3.8
All family farms	37.7	1.9

Note: Farm households are the households of the principal operator on family farms. Opera- tor household income and wealth are not estimated for nonfamily farms. Wealth is the value of household assets minus household debt. Given that net income is a calendar-year flow,    all income and expenses are included when they occur from January 1 to December 31. U.S.  median wealth was adjusted to 2022 dollars using the Gross Domestic Product chain-type   price index.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Sta-     tistics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data; U.S.    Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, 2022 Current Population Survey data; and the Federal Reserve Board, Board of Governors in cooperation with the U.S. Department of   the Treasury, 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition      15

 

Table 3

Farm operator income per household by source and farm type, 2022

 

Farm type	Mean   wealth  (dollars)	Mean total income (dollars)	Income from farming		Per- cent of house- holds earning 50 percent of total house- hold income from off-farm sources	Mean income from off- farm sources (dollars)
			Mean   (dollars)	Percent of house- holds with neg- ative income		Total	Earned	Un- earned
Small family farms
Retire- ment	2,032,797	118,752	5,279	56	91	113,473	67,631	45,842
Off-farm occupa- tion	1,884,189	160,742	-2,943	66	97	163,685	131,992	31,693
Low sales	1,774,457	88,440	-2,976	55	90	91,416	49,699	41,717
Moderate sales	3,293,574	121,072	45,871	22	39	75,201	46,449	28,752
Midsize family farms
	4,475,285	210,857	130,477	16	26	80,380	53,232	27,148
Large-scale family farms
Large	7,473,020	670,040	534,434	10	14	135,607	94,206	41,401
Very large	16,875,590	1,885,395	1,809,010	10	5	76,385	49,074	27,311
All family farms	2,333,891	156,076	32,852	52	84	123,223	86,643	36,580

Note: Operator household income is not estimated for nonfamily farms. Off-farm income

may come from both earned and unearned sources. Earned income comes from off-farm,

self-employment, or wage/salary jobs. Unearned income includes interest and dividends,

benefits from Social Security and other public pensions, alimony, annuities, net income of

estates or trusts, private pensions, etc. The percent of households earning 50 percent of total household income from off-farm sources is only calculated for households with positive total  household income. Components may not sum to 100 percent due to rounding.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

Government Payments and Federal Crop Insurance

 

Distribution of direct Government payments varied by farm and   program type in 2022 (figure 7).

• Small family farms received 78 percent of all payments from USDA’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), which removes environmen-  tally sensitive cropland from production and increasingly enrolls

grasslands in support of grazing operations. In contrast, 62 percent of all USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)

working-land program payments were received by midsize family

farms, large-scale family farms, and nonfamily farms. These programs include the USDA, NRCS’s Environmental Quality Incentives Pro-    gram (EQIP) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), both of which incentivize adopting certain agricultural production practices.

• The shares of farms receiving Government payments by farm type are similar to their contributions to the total value of U.S. agricultural     production. Midsized and large-scale family farms accounted for 71   percent of the total value of production and received 78 percent of     ercyclical-type payments and 64 percent of all other payments.

• The distribution of Government payments across farm type could

be driven by differences in the underlying commodities produced by  different farm types. Small family farms tend to ac for a larger    percentage of poultry and egg and hay production relative to all other farm types, and producers of these commodities are not eligible to

receive ercyclical-type payments. Midsize and large-scale family farms ac for the majority of the value of production of cash

grains (barley, corn, rice, sorghum, wheat, and oats), soybeans, and   cotton, which are commodities targeted by ercyclical-type pro-

grams.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition      17

• Overall, 25 percent of all farms reported receiving some type of

Government payment in 2022, a decline from 34 percent in 2021

and 40 percent in 2020. The decline is largely due to the tapering off  of Coronavirus (COVID-19)-related assistance payments, such as the USDA’s Coronavirus Food Assistance Program in 2021. The percent- age of farms receiving Government payments ranged from 19 percent for off-farm-occupation farms to 46 percent for nonfamily farms.

These differences may result from the relationship between farm type and commodity production.

Figure 7

Distribution of selected Government agricultural program payments and total value of production by farm type, 2022

 

Percent   45      40 40 35 33 30 29   25   20   15       10         8 5               0
Retirement      Of-farm       Low sales      Moderate occupation                              sales				Midsize family farms			Large         Very large     Nonfamily farms
Small family farms					Large-scale family farms
	Conservation Reserve Program		payments			Working-land conservation payments
	ercyclical-type	payments				All other payments
Value of production

Note: Working-land conservation payments include payments from the USDA, National

Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP)   and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). ercyclical-type payments include    payments from the USDA, Farm Service Agency (FSA) Price Loss Coverage and Agricultural Risk Coverage program. All other payments include those from programs such as the USDA, FSA’s Dairy Margin Coverage program, as well as agricultural disaster payments and ad-hoc programs (such as Coronavirus (COVID-19) assistance programs). The bars of the same

color add to 100 percent.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

 

18     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

Indemnities from Federal crop insurance were roughly proportional to   the acres of all harvested cropland and were concentrated among mid-    size and large-scale farms in 2022 (figure 8).

• Overall, 13 percent of U.S. farms participated in Federal crop

insurance programs, but participation rates varied widely across

commodity production. In 2022, 62 percent of farms producing row crops (cotton, corn, soybeans, wheat, peanuts, rice, and sorghum)

purchased Federal crop insurance. In contrast, 9 percent of farms

growing specialty crops, such as fruits, vegetables, and nursery crops, purchased Federal crop insurance.

• Retirement farms, off-farm-occupation farms, and low-sales farms

made up 83 percent of farms but 37 percent of participants in Federal crop insurance. These farms represented 17 percent of all harvested

cropland acres and received only 6 percent of indemnity payments.

• Although midsize and large-scale family farms made up 9 percent

of all U.S. farms in 2022, these farms aced for 42 percent of

Federal crop insurance participants, 67 percent of all harvested crop- land acres, and received 80 percent of indemnities from Federal crop insurance. These family farms were also the most likely to participate in Federal crop insurance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition      19

 

Figure 8

Distribution of Federal crop insurance participants, total harvested cropland, and indemnities by farm type, 2022

 

Percent

50 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0

Participants                                                                                             44 All harvested cropland acres Indemnities                                                                                         35 26 24 26 17                                                                             17   16 15 7 8 9 8  10               8   8 4    2   3 2   6 1 6                   1                 Retirement      Of-farm       Low sales      Moderate              occupation                              sales Small family farms                                                               Large-scale family farms

Note: The bars of the same color add up to 100 percent.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural

Statistics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

Socially Disadvantaged (SDA) Producers

 

Socially disadvantaged producers are defined as those belonging to groups that have been subject to racial or ethnic prejudice. Because they make up a small   share of farmers and ranchers, it has been difficult to examine specific groups   of SDA producers separately in previous versions of ARMS data. In response   to USDA’s growing interest in understanding and serving SDA producers, the  2022 ARMS included a targeted sample of farms operated by SDA producers. Specifically, SDA producers include those who identify as Hispanic ethnic-

ity or anon-White race. According to the 2017 Census of Agriculture, 3.3

percent of producers identified as of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin; 1.7 percent identified as American Indian or Alaska Native only; 1.3 percent as

Black or African American only; 0.6 percent as Asian only; 0.1 percent as

Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander only; and 0.8 percent reported more than one race. Additionally, 3.9 percent of all farms have at least one SDA

producer and produce 2.1 percent of the total value of production.

 

 

 

20     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

 

SDA Farm Operations

Identifying SDA operations

ARMS collects race and ethnicity information for up to four operators of a   farm operation. Researchers used the information on individual operators to classify the farm operation five mutually exclusive categories: Hispan-    ic farms, non-Hispanic Black or African American farms, non-Hispanic

American Indian or Alaska Native farms, non-Hispanic Asian farms, and non-Hispanic White farms.

If any of the operators identify as of Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin,

the farm operation is classified as Hispanic-operated, regardless of the race selected. Among the remaining farm operations, researchers examined the self-reported race of the operators, and if at least one operator identifies

as a race other than White, that operation is classified as anon-Hispan-

ic SDA operation of the reported race. For example, if a farm operation

with anon-Hispanic operator identifies as Black or African American, that farm operation is classified as anon-Hispanic Black farm. The category

non-Hispanic Other SDA farm operations includes farms where anon-His- panic operator identifies with more than one SDA race category, as well

as those where multiple non-Hispanic operators identify as different SDA race categories. Also included in non-Hispanic Other SDA are farms with non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander operators.1  However,

the non-Hispanic Other SDA group is not included in the analysis as they   represent only about 0.2 percent of farm operations, making it difficult to    estimate reliable statistics for this group. Also excluded from the analysis is   any operation where none of the operators report race or ethnicity. These     operations represent 1.1 percent of all farm operations. Differences between race and ethnicity are presented in figures and tables, but only comparisons  that are statistically different are mentioned in the text.2

 

 

1 ARMS covers the 48 contiguous U.S. States and excludes farm operations that operate exclusively on Tribal lands. See the ARMS website for more details on the sampling work.

2 Researchers tested differences in quantities using a 95-percent confidence interval. For example, a statement that “the share of farm operations concentrated in cattle is higher for Hispanic farms relative  to non-Hispanic White farm operations” means that these two shares are statistically different at the      95-percent confidence level.

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition    21

 

SDA Farm-Type Distribution

 

• Overall, Hispanic operations make up 4 percent of all operations,    non-Hispanic American Indian operations make up 2 percent, and non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic Asian operations each make up 1 percent of all operations in the sample (figure 9).

• Non-Hispanic Black farms are more likely to be classified as interme- diate farms (62 percent) relative to non-Hispanic White farms (35     percent) than residence or commercial farms.

• Non-Hispanic American Indian farms are less likely to be commercial farms than non-Hispanic White farms.

Figure 9

Distribution by farm operation race/ethnicity and condensed farm typology, 2022

 

Pecent of farms   100 2                                   3 90 12 10 80 19 70 42 60 35 41 62 30 50 40   30 20 52 49 56 51 10 36 0
Non-Hispanic White			Hispanic   4	Non-Hispanic   American Indian or Alaska Native 2	Non-Hispanic Black or African American 1		Non-Hispanic Asian 1
Proportion   of all farms:	91
		Residence farms		Intermediate farms		Commercial farms

Note: Residence farms = family farms with less than $350,000 in gross cash farm income   and where the principal operator is either retired from farming or has a primary occupation     other than farming; intermediate farms = family farms with less than $350,000 in gross cash farm income and a principal operator whose primary occupation is farming; commercial

farms = family farms with $350,000 or more gross cash farm income and nonfamily farms.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

22     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

 

SDA Farm Specialization

• The share of farm operations concentrated in cattle production is

higher for Hispanic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-HispanicAmeri- can Indian farms relative to non-Hispanic White farms (figure 10).

• Non-Hispanic Black farms are less likely than non-Hispanic White farms to specialize in all other livestock.

• Hispanic and non-Hispanic Asian farms have a higher concentra-     tion in specialty crops, 15 and 32 percent, respectively, compared to other groups.

• All categories of SDA farm operations are less likely to be in cash

grains or other field crops relative to non-Hispanic White operations.

Figure 10

Specialization by farm operation race/ethnicity, 2022

 

Percent of farms
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0	16 8 19 24 21 36 62 25 49 53 7   32 25 15 7 7 12 15 15 12 13 2 10 7 4
	Non-Hispanic White				Hispanic	Non-Hispanic   American Indian or Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic Black or African American	Non-Hispanic Asian
		Cash	grains	and soybeans   Other field crops  Specialty crops  Cattle  All other livestock

Note: Cash grains is a broad term that includes general cash grains, corn, and wheat. Spe- cialty crops include fresh or dried fruits, tree nuts, vegetables, beans (pulses), and horti-

culture nursery crops. Farm specialization is determined by the one commodity or related   group of commodities that makes up at least 50 percent of the farm’s total value of produc- tion. Due to rounding, numbers may not add to 100 percent.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition    23

 

SDA Operating Profit Margin

• Between 64 and 74 percent of farms of all race categories in figure 11 have an OPM in the high-risk zone (less than 10 percent OPM).

• Non-Hispanic Black farm operations are less likely to have an OPM in the low-risk zone compared to other groups.

Figure 11

Farms by operating profit margin (OPM) and operation race/ ethnicity, 2022

 

Percent of farms
100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0	2 4 6 13 4 8 19 19 16 26 12 8 6 9   6   69 68 66 74 64
	Non-Hispanic White	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic   American Indian or Alaska Native		Non-Hispanic Black or African American	Non-Hispanic Asian
a High risk level (OPM<10 percent) a Low risk level (OPM>25 percent)				a Medium risk level (OPM 10-25 percent)  Ratio not calculated

Note: The OPM ratio is defined as:

. OPM ratios are

not calculated for operations with zero or negative gross farm income. The OPM for these     operations are undefined or do not reflect the financial position of the farm operation. Gross farm income can be negative due to decreases in the value of inventory. Due to rounding,     numbers may not add to 100 percent.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

24     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

SDA Credit Use and Receipt of Government Payments

• The share of farms that report using debt ranges from 14 percent among non-Hispanic American Indian farms to 38 percent of     non-Hispanic Asian farms (table 4).

• Among farms that report using credit, non-Hispanic Black farms have the lowest loan amounts at an average loan balance of approximately   $154,593 compared to $492,675 among non-Hispanic White farms.  Non-Hispanic Black farms are also less likely to report having loans     (15 percent compared to 26 percent).

• Average reported credit amounts vary by demographic group. This could be partially driven by differences in farm typology as com-

mercial farms, which may be more likely to use credit, make up 19    percent of non-Hispanic Asian farms compared to 2–3 percent for     non-Hispanic Black and non-Hispanic American Indian farm opera-

tions.

• Among farm operations receiving Government payments, the average amount non-Hispanic Black farms received is smaller ($7,774) than   that of non-Hispanic White farms ($16,417). This may be partially    attributed to differences in farm size and commodity specialization.

• All SDA groups are less likely to receive Government payments com-  pared to non-Hispanic White farm operations. Additionally, Hispan-  ic, non-Hispanic Black, and non-Hispanic American Indian farms are less likely (by 2–8 percent) to participate in Federal crop insurance

programs than non-Hispanic White farms (14 percent). Both of these results could be partially driven by their concentration in different

commodities.

• Among those who receive indemnity payments, the average amount  received by non-Hispanic Black operations is smaller ($29,819) than that of non-Hispanic White operations ($72,346).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition    25

 

Table 4

Use of credit and Government payments by farm operation race/ ethnicity, 2022

 

	Non-His- panic    White	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic American Ind ian or Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic Black or Afri-  can American	Non-His- panic    Asian
Farm credit
Percent of farms reporting debt	26	24	14	15	38
Average loan balance   of farms that use credit (dollars)	492,675	582,717	379,614	154,593	776,575
Government payments
Percent of farms that  received Government payments	26	13	14	18	10
Average Government payment received if participating in a program (dollars)	16,417	17,637	13,228	7,774	21,394
Federal crop insurance
Percent of farms that participate	14	8	2	5	11
Average indemnity payments among farms that received payments (dollars)	72,346	64,534	112,162	29,819	92,261
Percent commercial farms	12	10	2	3	19

Note: Farm credit includes loans serviced by Farm Credit System, USDA, Farm Service

Agency, Small Business Administration, saving associations, State and y government lender agencies, commercial banks, life insurance companies, trade credit, contractors,

individuals, credit s, credit cards, and other debts such as unpaid bills. Government

payments include payments from USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service programs such as the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) and Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and USDA, FSA programs such as Price Loss Coverage, Agricultural Risk

Coverage program, Dairy Margin Coverage program, as well as agricultural disaster pay- ments and ad-hoc programs (such as Coronavirus (COVID-19) assistance programs).

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

26     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

 

SDA Farm Households

This section presents information on the farm household for the principal operator (the operator most responsible for decision making) of each farm operation. Farm households are included in the analysis only if the opera-  tion is afamily farm, meaning at least 50 percent is owned by an operator and related members of their family. The farm operation-level race and

ethnicity category is used rather than the race and ethnicity of the principal operator alone for consistency with the categories presented in the previous operation-level results.

• Principal operator households of Hispanic farms have median

household net worth and income levels relatively similar to those of non-Hispanic White farms (table 5).

• Principal operator households of non-Hispanic Black farms have

lower levels of median household net worth and median household   income and are more likely to be below U.S. median income relative to households of non-Hispanic White farms.

• Non-Hispanic American Indian and Hispanic farms have notably lower median farm income than non-Hispanic White farms.

• Principal operator households of non-Hispanic Asian farms have

the highest median household net worth ($1,419,775) and median    household income ($136,268) of all groups. They also have the high- est median off-farm income level ($110,021). This could be due to

underlying differences in regional factors or educational attainment.

• Across all groups, the majority of farm households receive more than

50 percent of their household income from off-farm sources. The

share with over half of their income from off-farm sources is highest    among non-Hispanic Black (94 percent) and non-Hispanic American Indian (92 percent) farms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition    27

 

Table 5

Farm household wealth and income by source and operation race/ ethnicity, 2022

 

	Non- Hispanic White	Hispanic	Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native	Non-Hispanic Black or African   American	Non- Hispanic Asian
Median household net worth (dollars)	1,394,972	1,239,941	766,550	1,005,977	1,419,775
Median household income (dollars)	96,100	98,450	68,225	59,576	136,268
Percent of farm house- holds below the U.S.     median income	36	36	53	61	25
Median farm income (dollars)	-560	-3,400	-5,683	-1,557	-1,024
Median off-farm in- come (dollars)	81,108	83,250	82,500	67,500	110,021
Percent of farm house-  holds with 50 percent    of income or more from off-farm sources	84	86	92	94	79

Note: Household net worth includes both on- and off-farm assets and debt and is calculated as household assets minus household debt. Off-farm income may come from both earned     and unearned sources. Earned income comes from off-farm, self-employment, or wage/

salary jobs. Unearned income includes interest and dividends, benefits from Social Security and other public pensions, alimony, annuities, net income of estates or trusts, and private     pensions, among other sources.

Source: USDA, Economic Research Service (ERS) using USDA, National Agricultural Statis- tics Service and USDA, ERS, 2022 Agricultural Resource Management Survey data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

28     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

Conclusions and Implications

 

• U.S. farming is still overwhelmingly a family business. In 2022, 97   percent of U.S. farms were family farms, acing for 90 percent of farm production (figure 1).

• Small family farms made up 88 percent of the farm  and op-   erated 46 percent of the farmland but generated only 19 percent     of the total value of production. The largest share of the value of

farm production (52 percent) occurred on large-scale family farms. However, small family farms aced for 45 percent of the value of poultry and eggs and 53 percent of the value of hay production  (figure 2).

• The share of farms with a low-risk operating profit margin (OPM)   varied by farm size in 2022. Between 52 and 79 percent of small

family farms had an OPM in the high-risk zone (OPM less than 10 percent), depending on the farm type, compared with 37 and 27

percent of midsize and large family farms, respectively. Some small   family farms of each type operated in the low-risk zone, as did more than 39 percent of midsize and large-scale family farms (figure 3).

• About 26 percent of all U.S. farms held any debt in 2022, and the   majority (67 percent) of farms with debt used one lender. Over

half of these farms reported loans owed to a commercial bank, com-  pared to 8 to 10 percent with loans serviced by USDA, Farm Service Agency, and 31 to 43 percent with loans serviced by the Farm Credit System, depending on farm type, in 2022 (figure 4).

• Farm households, in general, were not considered low income     or low wealth. In 2022, median farm household income (includ-   ing both farm and off-farm income sources) exceeded that for all    U.S. households but was lower than the median income of all U.S.

households with self-employment income. About 38 percent of farm households had income below the median for all U.S. households,     and 2 percent had wealth below the U.S. median in 2022 (table 2).

 

 

 

 

 

America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition    29

 

• USDA Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) payments went to

different types of farms than other Government payments. CRP

payments target environmentally sensitive cropland and increasingly enroll grasslands in support of grazing operations, with most pay-

ments going to retirement farms, off-farm-occupation farms, and low- sales farms. In contrast, most ercyclical-type and USDA, NRCS  working-land payments went to family farms with a gross cash farm    income (GCFI) of $350,000 or more (figure 7).

• Overall, 13 percent of farms participated in Federal crop insur-   ance in 2022, with participation varying by commodity. About

62 percent of row crop farms purchased Federal crop insurance.

Indemnities from Federal crop insurance were roughly proportional   to acres of harvested cropland. Midsize and large-scale family farms    together aced for 67 percent of all harvested cropland acres and received 80 percent of indemnities from Federal crop insurance in

2022 (figure 8).

• Among SDA farms, non-Hispanic Black farms, in particular,

differ most compared to non-Hispanic White farms in terms of

size, specialization, and financial outcomes. Non-Hispanic Black      farms are more likely to specialize in cattle production and be classi-   fied as intermediate rather than residence or commercial farms. They  also are more likely to have an operating profit margin in the high- or medium-risk zones and are less likely to report the use of debt. Final-  ly, their principal operators have lower levels of median household

income relative to households of non-Hispanic White farms.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

30     America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition

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