United States yearbook - 1982 (1)

S e c tio n 2 4
Agriculture
This section presents statistics on farms and farm population; land use and irrigation; farm cooperatives;
farm income, expenditures, and debt; farm output, productivity, and marketings; foreign
trade in agricultural products; specific crops; and livestock, poultry, and their products.
The principal sources of these data are the reports issued by the U.S. Bureau of the Census and
by the Statistical Reporting Service (SRS) and the. Economic Research Service (ERS) of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture. The Bureau of the Census has taken a census of agriculture every 10
years from 1840 to 1920 and roughly every 5 years from 1925 to 1978. The 1978 Census of Agriculture
is the most recent census for which reports are presently available. The Department of Agriculture
publishes annually A gricultural Statistics, a general reference book on agricultural production,
supplies, consumption, facilities, costs, and returns. The Economic Research Service publishes
a series of annual reports, Econom ic Indicators o f the Farm Sector. This series comprises five reports:
Incom e and Balance Sheet Statistics, S tate Incom e a n d Balance Sheet Statistics, Production
and E fficiency Statistics, Costs o f Production, and Farm S ector Review. Situation reports issued
periodically by the ERS present current data on a variety of crops. Sources of current data on agricultural
exports and imports include Foreign A gricultural Trade o f the U nited States, published by
the ERS, and the reports of the Bureau of the Census, particularly U.S. G eneral Im ports, Schedule
A, Com modity by Country, and U.S. Exports, Schedule B, Commodity by Country. In addition, the
SRS provides agricultural employment estimates and wage rates in the periodic The H ired Farm
W orking Force. Also reported are days employed, earnings from farm and nonfarm work, personal
characteristics of hired farm workers, and other pertinent information.
Agricultural statistics have been issued by the Department of Agriculture for over 100 years. The
44 field offices of the SRS collect data on crops, livestock products, agricultural prices, farm employment,
and other related subjects mainly through sample surveys. Information is obtained on
some 110 crops and 50 livestock items as well as scores of items pertaining to agricultural production
and marketing. State estimates and supporting information are sent to the Crop Reporting
Board of SRS which reviews the estimates and issues reports containing State and national data.
Among these reports are two annual summaries, Crop Production and Crop Values.
Farms and farmland.—Over time, the Bureau of the Census has used varying definitions of a
; farm. Data shown from the census of agriculture reflect the changes in definition since figures are
presented lor “ farms" as defined during the years indicated. For the Census of Agriculture for 1974
and 1978, a farm was defined to include all land on which agricultural operations were conducted
■ under the day-to-day control of an individual management and from which $1,000 or more of agri-
• cultural products were, or potentially could be, sold during the census year. Control may have been
■ .exercised through ownership or management, or through a lease, rental, or cropping arrangement.
Volume I census reports for 1974 and 1978 provide a detailed explanation of the new definition
along with measures of the effect of the change for each State and county. The effect of the
change.in definition must be considered when comparing coverage estimates for all farms in the
1974 and 1978 censuses with those in previous censuses. In the 1969 census, as well as the 1959
and 1964 censuses, places of less than 10 acres were counted as farms if estimated sales of agricultural
products for the year amounted to at least $250, and places of 10 or more acres if such
sales amounted to at least $50. In the 1950 and 1954 censuses, places of 3 or more acres were
counted as farms if the annual value of agricultural products, exclusive of homegarden products,
amounted to $150 or more; places of less than 3 acres were counted as farms only if the annual
sales amounted to $150 or more. For definitions used in earlier censuses, see U.S. Census o f A griculture:
1974, vol. II, Part I, General Information.
Unless otherwise stated in the specific tables of this section, the definition of a farm applicable to
data originated by the Department of Agriculture is the one used by the Bureau of the Census for
the agriculture census immediately precedingithe year or years for which the data are shown.
6 4 7