Small farms are a large part of U.S. agriculture by count, but their role differs sharply by sales, commodity, acreage, and market channel. The 2022 Census counted 1,900,487 U.S. farms and ranches operating 880,100,848 acres, or 39% of U.S. land. Family-owned and operated farms represented 95% of farms and operated 84% of farmland in 2022. (USDA Census of Agriculture, 2022)
Contents
- How many small farms are in the United States?
- Sales bands and farm size
- What small farms produce
- How small farms reach local markets
- Household income and financial position
- Operators, diversification, and technology
How many small farms are in the United States?
The answer depends on the definition. In the USDA Economic Research Service definition, a small family farm is a family-owned operation with gross cash farm income (GCFI) below $350,000. By that measure, small family farms made up about 86% of U.S. farms in 2023. They operated 41% of agricultural land and generated 17% of production value. (USDA ERS, 2023)
The remaining family-farm categories were much smaller by count but larger by production share. Midsize family farms, with GCFI from $350,000 to $999,999, represented 6% of farms and 18% of production value. Large-scale family farms, with GCFI above $1 million, represented 4% of farms, 31% of agricultural land, and 48% of production value. Family farms as a whole accounted for about 96% of farms, 90% of agricultural land, and 83% of production value in 2023. (USDA ERS, 2023)
Another broad Census measure identifies farms with sales of $50,000 or less. About 1.4 million farms fell into that group in 2022: 74% of all farms, 25% of farmland, and 2% of sales. (USDA Census of Agriculture, 2022) These measures should not be treated as interchangeable: the Census sales band uses product sales, while the ERS typology uses GCFI.
Sales bands and farm size
The 2022 USDA farm typology divides small family farms below the $350,000 GCFI threshold into two groups. The lower-sales group included 1,493,684 farms, or 78.6% of all farms. Those farms operated 242,451,416 acres, with an average size of 162 acres. Their product sales plus government payments totaled $31,741,037,000, or an average of $21,250 per farm. (USDA Census Typology, 2022)
The upper small-farm group included 121,080 farms, or 6.4% of all farms. These farms operated 102,373,113 acres, and their average size was 845 acres. Product sales plus government payments totaled $47,415,242,000, averaging $391,603 per farm. (USDA Census Typology, 2022)
| 2022 small-family-farm group | Farms | Average size | Average sales plus payments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below $150,000 GCFI | 1,493,684 | 162 acres | $21,250 |
| $150,000–$349,999 GCFI | 121,080 | 845 acres | $391,603 |
The Census also counted 375,412 farms with less than $1,000 in product sales, 242,254 farms with $10,000 to $24,999 in product sales, and 152,852 farms with $25,000 to $49,999 in product sales in 2022. (2022 Census Volume 1, Chapter 1)
The dollar figures in the typology include product sales plus government payments. That is different from the Census product-sales classes, so a sales-band count and a typology total describe related but different measurements.
What small farms produce
Small family farms have a particularly visible role in several commodity groups. In 2022, they supplied 7% of specialty-crop production value. Specialty crops in this measure include fruits, tree nuts, vegetables, pulses, and nursery crops. They supplied 26% of beef production value, 53% of hay production value, and 45% of poultry-and-egg production value. (USDA ERS commodity charts, 2022)
Their shares were lower in dairy and cotton: small family farms supplied 3% of dairy production value and 4% of cotton production value in 2022. These figures are shares of production value, not the number of farms producing each commodity or the physical quantity produced. (USDA ERS commodity charts, 2022)
The 2023 estimates show a similar concentration in selected categories, with some changes in the measured shares. Small family farms accounted for 46% of poultry-and-egg production value and 45% of hay production value. They accounted for 22% of beef production value and 15% of hog production value. (America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2024 Edition) The 2022 and 2023 figures come from different annual measures and should be read by year rather than combined.
How small farms reach local markets
Direct and local marketing are important parts of the farm economy. U.S. producers sold $17.5 billion of food through direct marketing channels in 2022. That was a 25% increase in real terms from 2017, equivalent to real annual growth of 4.6% between 2017 and 2022. (USDA ERS, 2022 Census direct sales)
Sales to retail outlets, institutions, and intermediate markets reached $14.2 billion in 2022, up 33.2% in real terms from 2017. The number of operations selling through those channels more than doubled to 60,332. (USDA ERS, 2022 Census direct sales)
Consumer-facing outlets remained widespread. A total of 116,617 farm operations sold directly to consumers in 2022 through farmers markets, farm stands, U-pick operations, community-supported agriculture, and online marketplaces. However, the number of farms selling directly to consumers was 10.3% lower than in 2017. California accounted for 37.7% of U.S. direct food sales in 2022. (USDA ERS, 2022 Census direct sales)
The 2023 ERS figures isolate small family farms more specifically. Small family farms sold $2.4 billion of edible farm commodities directly to consumers through channels including farmers markets, farm stands, and CSA. Midsize family farms sold $652 million, while nonfamily farms sold $402 million. (USDA ERS, National Farmer’s Market Week)
Large-scale family farms used different local and regional channels at much larger dollar values. In 2023, they sold $2.3 billion of locally or regionally branded food through retail markets and $11.3 billion through intermediate markets. (USDA ERS, National Farmer’s Market Week)
Household income and financial position
Farm size by sales does not describe household finances on its own. In 2023, 76% of small family farms and nonfamily farms combined had an operating profit margin below 10%. (America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2024 Edition) In 2022, between 52% and 79% of small family farms were in the high-financial-risk operating-profit-margin category, depending on farm type. (USDA ERS financial risk chart)
Crop insurance participation and payments also varied. Small family farms accounted for 54% of Federal crop-insurance participants but received 12% of crop-insurance payments in 2022. They harvested 26% of U.S. cropland acres. Only 9% of farms producing specialty crops purchased Federal crop insurance, compared with 62% of farms producing row crops such as corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, peanuts, rice, and sorghum. (USDA ERS crop insurance chart)
ERS survey estimates show different household profiles among small family farms in 2022. Farms operated by a retired principal operator had mean household wealth of $2,032,797 and mean total household income of $118,752. Farms operated by someone with an off-farm occupation had mean household wealth of $1,884,189 and mean total household income of $160,742. (America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition)
Low-sales small family farms had mean household wealth of $1,774,457 and mean total household income of $88,440. Moderate-sales small family farms had mean household wealth of $3,293,574 and mean total household income of $121,072. These are ERS ARMS survey estimates for the stated populations and year, not interchangeable Census totals. (America’s Farms and Ranches at a Glance: 2023 Edition)
Operators, diversification, and technology
Farms also earn income beyond commodity sales. U.S. farms generated $1.26 billion in agritourism-service income in 2022, up 12.4% in real terms from 2017. (USDA ERS agritourism chart)
Renewable energy and connectivity were also measured in the 2022 Census. A total of 153,101 farms used renewable-energy-producing systems, 15% more than in 2017. Solar panels were reported by 76% of farms with renewable-energy systems. Internet access was reported by 79% of U.S. farms, up from 75% in 2017. (USDA Census of Agriculture, 2022)
The operator population included more than 1 million producers with 10 or fewer years of farm experience in 2022, an 11% increase from 2017. Producers under age 35 numbered 296,480, or 9% of all producers. Fifty-eight percent of U.S. farms had at least one female decision-maker. (USDA Census of Agriculture, 2022)
Precision technology use among small family farms remained limited in the 2023 ERS measure. Thirteen percent used yield monitors, yield maps, or soil maps; 9% used guidance autosteering; and 5% used variable-rate technology. Drones were used by 2%, robotic milking by less than 1%, and wearable livestock technologies by 1%. (USDA ERS precision agriculture chart)
These statistics cover different universes and definitions. USDA ERS defines a small family farm as a family-owned operation with GCFI below $350,000, while the 2022 NASS typology splits that group below $150,000 and from $150,000 to $349,999. Census sales-band counts use product-sales classes; typology dollar totals include product sales plus government payments. ERS ARMS values are survey estimates for the stated farm populations and years, and percentages may be rounded by the source.