Fact Check: Corporate Farms Vs. Family Farms

Farm policy opponents love to rail against “corporate farms.” These operations, they say, have run family farmers out of rural America. But is it true? Not according to a recent report by the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS).  It is true that modern-day farms in America are no longer one-or-two acre plots plowed by oxen and planted by hand — the inefficient, gothic scenes of yesteryear.  Instead, farms now operate like small businesses that must borrow capital and use the latest technologies and farming practices to maximize efficiencies and offset stagnant commodity prices. But being an efficient small business doesn’t mean you are a “corporate farm.” In fact, the ERS found that 99 percent of U.S. farms were still structured as family farms in 2015, and they account for about 90 percent of farm production. The report further noted that the few farms organized as nonfamily corporations generally have less than 10 stockholders — in other words, they are more Main Street than Wall Street. Hardly the sinister tale being spun by farm foes. So how do agriculture’s political opponents spin arguments that paint such a different picture? It all boils down to the definition of a farm, and ERS sheds a lot of light about that topic, too. “USDA defines a farm as any place that produced and sold — or normally would have produced and sold — at least $1,000 of agricultural products during a given year,” the agency explained. Bear in mind, $1,000 in sales doesn’t translate to $1,000 in profit. It is simply a measure of revenue that does not consider expenses.