Skip to content Skip to navigation

USDA: Midsize farms hold their own

The number of midsize growers in the U.S. has dropped slightly but the category hasn’t experienced as much change as other farm sizes, according to USDA.  Farms in the midsize category, with roughly $350,000 to $1 million in annual revenue, declined in number by 5 percent between 1992 and 2012, according to a recent USDA study.  To compare, large farms with more than $1 million in revenue more than doubled in number, while small commercial farms — those with revenues between $10,000 and $350,000 — declined in number by 22 percent. Midsize farms also had smaller net exit rates from the industry than large or small commercial farms between 2007 and 2012, the study found. “They do stick around,” said Chris Burns, an economist for USDA’s Economic Research Service who co-wrote the report, “The Changing Organization and Well-being of Midsize U.S. Farms, 1992-2014.”

Article Link: 
Article Source: 
Capital Press
category: