Family-owned operations made up about 97% of all farms in the United States in 2024, operated about 91% of the country's farmland and produced 85% of the total value of farm production, according to the latest figures reported by Farms.com.
Small family farms, those with gross cash farm income below $350,000, were around 86% of all US farms. They operated 40% of farmland but produced 17% of the value of production.
At the other end, large family farms with gross cash farm income of $1 million or more were only 5% of farms, yet they generated 50% of the value of production and operated 33% of farmland. Midsize family farms, with income from $350,000 to $999,999, were 6% of farms and accounted for 18% of farmland and 18% of production value.
Nonfamily farms, which include nonfamily corporations, partnerships between unrelated owners and farms run by hired managers unrelated to the owners, were about 3% of all farms. Their share of the value of production fell to 14% in 2024 from 17% in 2023.
The figures show the two sides of American agriculture: most farms, and much of the land, are small family operations that produce a modest share of output, while a small number of large family farms grow most of the food, feed, fuel and fibre.
Photo: Pete Krumhardt, USDA NRCS / Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)
Source: Farms.com
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