Farms getting bigger, fewer

WICHITA, Kan. — The nation's shrinking numbers of farmers worked more acres, got older and grew increasingly more diverse, the National Agricultural Statistics Service reported Tuesday.

Preliminary data released Tuesday for the 2002 Census of Agriculture, an in-depth snapshot of U.S. agriculture taken every five years, portray a changing picture among the nation's 2.12 million farms.

That number was down from the 2.21 million farms counted during the 1997 farm census. But their size grew from an average 431 acres to 441 acres during the same time. More than 939.5 million acres in the nation is farmland.

The census counted 3.11 million farmers nationwide, including 847,680 women. The survey found blacks, American Indian, Hispanic and women operators all were significant contributors to agriculture — and their numbers have all increased since 1997.

The ranks of white farmers fell from 2.15 million in 1997 to 2.06 million in 2002. During the same time, the numbers of black farmers grew from 26,785 to 29,145 farmers. Some 72,329 operators across all races also listed Hispanic origin.

The average age of farmers in 2002 was just a fraction above 55 years, compared to an average of 54 years in 1997.

For the first time, the census also asked how many households each farm supported. The numbers showed the vast majority of U.S. farms supported only one household — 1.64 million of them nationwide.

An additional 314,043 farms supported two households.

A farm, for the purposes of the survey, was defined as any place where $1,000 or more of agricultural products were produced and sold.

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On the Net: National Agricultural Statistics Service: www.usda.gov/nass/