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Report: Nearly all US farms are still family farms

Nearly all US farms are family farms, according to a recent report by the USDA’s Economic Research Service.

“Family farms represent 98 percent of all farms and 86 percent of production,” she says.

ERS Economist Christine Witt says the 2020 Edition of America’s Diverse Family Farms report also found that small farms make up 90 percent of farms.

“They’re operating 49 percent of acres, they are producing 22 percent of production, and small farms produce 45 percent of poultry, including eggs and 46 percent of hay,” she says.

She tells Brownfield women are operators in more than half of all farming operations.

The highest share of principal female operators is found among 31 percent of poultry farms and 30 percent of other livestock operations.

Non-family farms, or any farm where the principal operator and people related to the principal operator do not own a majority of the business, make up 2.4 percent of US farms.

Audio: Christine Witt

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