Income – Net Income of Farming Operations
Net farm income (total sales, government payments, and other farm-related income minus total farm expenses) reflects the strength of the local agricultural community and can be an important measure for lenders and policy makers.
Source
Source Description
The Census of Agriculture is the leading source of facts and figures about American agriculture. Conducted every five years, the Census provides a detailed picture of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. It is the only source of uniform, comprehensive agricultural data for every state and county in the United States. Participation by every farmer and rancher, regardless of the size or type of operation, is vitally important.
The 2022 Census of Agriculture collected information concerning all areas of farming and ranching operations, including production expenses, market value of products, and operator characteristics. This information is used by everyone who provides services to farmers and rural communities – including federal, state and local governments, agribusinesses, and many others. Census data is used to make decisions about many things that directly impact farmers, including:
community planning
store/company locations
availability of operational loans and other funding
location and staffing of service centers
farm programs and policies
For 2022 Census of Agriculture results, click here.
Methodology
Farm-level data are acquired from the USDA Census of Agriculture.
The Census of Agriculture is a complete count of U.S. farms and ranches and the people who operate them. Even small plots of land – whether rural or urban – growing fruit, vegetables or some food animals count if $1,000 or more of such products were raised and sold, or normally would have been sold, during the Census year. The Census of Agriculture, taken only once every five years, looks at land use and ownership, operator characteristics, production practices, income and expenditures. For America’s farmers and ranchers, the Census of Agriculture is their voice, their future, and their opportunity. Most 2022 Census methodology is the same as that used in 2017. However, from one census to the next NASS considers what enhancements to the methodology can improve the process. In 2022, NASS improved its outreach and awareness efforts to encourage producers to respond to the census. Despite these and other efforts, agriculture census response rates have declined over time. This type of decline is being experienced across the research and survey community in all fields. In the 2022 Census, NASS used capture-recapture methodology, an accepted statistical methodology, to account for under-coverage (farms not reached in the original mailing), nonresponse (people not returning their census questionnaires), and misclassification (whether an operation is correctly classified as a farm or not). The methodology is documented thoroughly in Appendix A of the 2022 Census.
For more information, please visit the USDA Census of Agriculture web page.