What is a family farm?

A family farm is any farm where the majority of the business is owned by the operator and individuals related to the operator, including through blood, marriage or adoption, by definition according to the most recent USDA Census of Agriculture typology report.

The 2012 Census of Agriculture Farm Typology report primarily focuses on "family farm".

According to the survey, in Nebraska there are

• 49,969 family farms in Nebraska that grow corn, soybeans, wheat, sorghum, barley, other grains (including oilseeds, dry beans, and dry peas), garden vegetables, fruits and tree nuts, berries, nursery and greenhouses, Christmas trees, cattle, milk, hogs and pigs, sheep, goats, wool, horses, poultry and eggs and aquaculture.
• 17.6% of farms are considered small farms with gross cash farm income (GCFI) of $150,000 or less
• 10.5% are moderate sales with GCFI between $150,000 to $349,000
• 15.3% are mid-size family farms with GCFI between $350,000-$999,999
• 8.0% are large and very large with GCFI greater than $1,000,000
• $108,593 is the average net cash farm income
• 31% of family farmers have an off-farm occupation
• 22,914 family farms have hired or contract labor
• $478,972,000 is paid in property taxes annually by these family farms

Additional findings in the report include:

• 97% of U.S. farms are family owned
• 88% of U.S. farms are small (less than $350,000 gross cash farm income)
• 66% of dairy sales come from the 3% of farms that are large and very large
• 18% of primary operators on family farms stared in the last 10 years

This report shows that "factory farms" are non-existent even though groups such as HSUS, ASPCA and others still use the term in their blogs and on social media.  On my next blog I will talk about factory farms and why they don't exist.