Subject: Re: [Homestead] Small farmers are doing okay . . .
Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 11:07:12 -0700
And now of days are the number of farms really increasing or is the USDA
simply measuring them by a different yardstick?
Definitions have changed in both the USDA and the Census Bureau. More
people, my people, have become ruralites each year for the last many years
now. There is a continuing outmigration from urban to rural counties,
although in 2004 there appeared to be greater percentage growth in metro
areas, which Metropolitan Statistical Areas the US Census Bureau has
ballooned, making the numbers misleading. For lots of good reasons, many
prefer to live in a rural setting but not diminish their urban lifestyle
with its attendant financial requirements so they move to fringe counties
but commute to the high-paying jobs. The USDA and Cooperative Services,
being the clever bureaucracies that they are, need clients to justify their
expensive existence. So they have embraced what once were called hobby
farmers, what we might call homesteaders. Additionally, ruralites with CPA
advice find they can offset city income with rural losses, so many "farms"
exist for that purpose. Why not write off a tractor, riding mower, trailer,
and part of household operating expenses? Have an elevated gas tank
installed and buy gas with no sales tax and at a bulk price, then fill the
commute car. We Americans are clever people and the IRS has motivated ever
more cleverness.
Found this: "American SMALL FARM is the largest national magazine that
specializes exclusively in the interest and needs of the American Small
Farmer. We use USDA's definition for a small farm. Our readers earn income
from agriculture and usually have at least one full time off-farm income.
Our articles are written to help you improve your farm business and
lifestyle." http://www.smallfarm.com/home.htm
Found another site that said the 1997 definition of a small farm was up to
100k farm sales.
Found this at the USDA site: "There is also variation in projected net cash
income changes by size of farming operation in 2005. Commercial operations,
which represent about 9 percent of farms and more than 70 percent of
production, are expected to experience a 2-percent decline in average net
cash income for 2005. Average net cash income of intermediate farms
(primary occupation of farming and gross sales below $250,000) is forecast
to increase by nearly 3 percent in 2005. Two-thirds of U.S. farms are
classified as rural residences--operators of which typically earn most of
their off-farm income from off-farm sources. In contrast with intermediate
and commercial farms, the vast majority of these farms were employed
off-farm prior to becoming a farmer, with a much larger share of both
operators and their spouses having off-farm jobs. The farm operations of
these households have for many years averaged a negative net cash income,
with 2005 expected to continue this trend."
And finally, this:
"small farm
"In the past, ERS [Economic Research Service of the USDA] frequently used
$50,000 in agricultural sales as the delineation between large and small
farms. "Noncommercial" or small farms had sales less than $50,000, while
"commercial" or large farms had sales of $50,000 or more.
"To some extent, the cutoff between small and large farms is arbitrary, and
cutoffs other than $50,000 are also used. The National Commission on Small
Farms, for example, used a much higher cutoff in its definition of small
farms: farms with sales less than $250,000. The Commission wanted to
include more farm families of relatively modest means who may need to
improve their net farm incomes. ERS has created a farm typology, with
eight groups, that incorporates the Commission's $250,000 cutoff.
"Nevertheless, most farm businesses are small businesses. The Small
Business Administration (SBA) generally classifies farms as small if they
have sales less than $500,000. By SBA standards, about 97 percent of U.S.
family farms are small. (The SBA uses higher cutoffs for nonfarm
businesses. Cutoffs range upwards from $3 or $5 million, for businesses
where cutoffs are defined in dollar terms. They begin at 500 employees for
businesses where cutoffs are defined in terms of employment.) "