Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: Family Farm Report ... - AgWeb

family members to serve as secondary operators. In fact, 69 percent of thesecondary operators—688,400 out of 1 million—are spouses. (The numberof secondary operators is 14 percent greater than the number of multipleoperatorfarms because some multiple-operator farms have more than onesecondary operator.)As one would expect, the number of operators per farm is higher for largescalefarms. The number of operators per farm reaches 1.8 operators, onaverage, for very large family farms and nonfamily farms. The share offamily farms with two or more operators peaks at 55 percent on very largefarms, 15 percentage points higher than the share for all U.S. farms. About43 percent of residential/lifestyle farms have multiple operators—more thanthe corresponding share for other small-farm types—reflecting the highershare of residential/lifestyle farms where spouses are operators.About 16 percent of all multiple-operator farms (and 6 percent of all farms)are multiple-generation farms, with at least 20 years’ difference betweenthe ages of the oldest and youngest operators. Multiple-generation farms aremost common among large-scale and nonfamily farms (fig. 7), which haveenough business to keep more than one generation employed.Aging Principal OperatorsPerhaps the most striking characteristic of principal farm operators is theiradvanced age. About 28 percent of farm operators are at least 65 years old(table 8). In contrast, only 8 percent of self-employed workers in nonagriculturalindustries are that old (USDOL, BLS, 2008, p. 224). Retired operatorsFigure 7Multiple-operator and multiple-generation farms by farm type, 2007Multiple-generation farms are most common among large-scale and nonfamily farmsPercent of farms in group706050403020100Retirement Residential/lifestyleLow-sales Medium-salesFarming-occupationLargeMultiple-operator and multiple-generationMultiple-operator but not multiple-generationVery large Nonfamily All farmsSmall family farms(sales less than $250,000)Large-scalefamily farmsNotes: Multiple-operator farms have more than one operator. Multiple-generation farms are multiple-operator farms with a difference of atleast 20 years between the ages of the youngest and oldest operators. The remaining farms are single-operator farms with only oneoperator (not shown).Source: USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service and Economic Research Service, 2007 Agricultural Resource Management Survey,Phase III.22Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: Family Farm Report, 2010 Edition / EIB-66Economic Research Service/USDA