The Latest Numbers on Alabama Agriculture November 8, rd Butler/Cunningham Conference

Farm Numbers

Alabama Land in Farms  Farm land accounted for 64 % of the state’s total 32.5 million acre land area in 1950  In 1997, farm land accounted for 27% Source: Census of Agriculture

Trend Continues at Increasing Rate  From 1997 to 2002, farm numbers declined 10% –Most were <$10K Sales –80% were <180 acres  Land in Farms declined 6% Source: 2002 Census of Ag

Harvested Cropland  In 1997, cropland accounted for 6 % of total farm land  Cropland accounted for 18 % of total land area in 1950 Source: Census of Agriculture

Harvested Cropland 8% Decrease in 5 years Source: 2002 Census of Ag

Farm Counts by Size

Acres per Farm  75% of farms are 180 acres or less  500 acre plus farms make up 8% of total  2,000 acre plus farms total 523, or 1%

Farm Counts by Value of Sales

Percent of Farms and Value of Sales Source: 2002 Census of Ag

 10 % of Alabama farms produce 90 % of the market value of products sold  1.4 % of farms sell $1,000,000 or more of ag products and account for nearly 40 % of all sales  Nearly three-fourths of all farms sell less than $10,000 of ag products (less than 3% of all sales)

Farm Structure

Net Returns per Farm

Net Gains & Losses  More farms with losses than gains in 2002  Farms w/gains averaged $21,000 on the plus side  Farms w/losses averaged $10,000 loss  Overall, farms averaged $7,100 gain

Net Returns by Sales Group  Farms with $10,000 or more in sales had a positive net return  Farms with less than $10,000 in sales had a negative return

Sales Category # of Farms Gain/Loss  $ 1,000, $229,556 Gain  500,000 – 999,999 1,403 73,999 Gain  250,000 – 499,999 1,355 52,195 Gain  100,000 – 249,000 1,299 27,993 Gain  50, ,999 1,142 12,131 Gain  25, ,999 1,825 6,061 Gain  10, ,999 5,527 2,235 Gain  5, ,999 6,274 1,450 Loss  2, ,999 6,349 2,302 Loss  1, ,499 6,368 2,728 Loss  Less than 1,000 13,185 2,812 Loss

Net Returns by Farm Type or Enterprise

Farm Enterprise

Net Returns per Farm

 Most nursery operations (71%) have less than $50,000 net return….very large nurseries have major influence on average  Likewise, about half of dairies net less than $50,000 per farm – not many left

What do our largest farms look like?

$1,000,000 Plus Gross Sales  648 Farms (1% of all farms)  77% are poultry operations  7% are nursery/greenhouse operations  6% are row crop farms

Farm Demographics

Average Age of Principal Operator Census Year

Age Groups

Tenure Years on Farm Operators 72% 18% 7% 3%

Percent of Operator’s Total Income from Farming % of Total Income # of Operators 74% 6%

Days Worked off the Farm  55% of primary operators worked off the farm  Of those working off the farm, 75% worked 200 days or more, essentially full time job # of operators

 The larger the farm size, the fewer days worked off the farm  However, a 260 acre farm still has as many primary operators working off the farm as not  And, even the 2,000 acre plus farms have 31% of operators working off the farm, with 59% of those working 200 days or more

Finally, the numbers tell a lot about Alabama farms…… But, They don’t tell an equally important story - conservation practices of farms and their contribution toward a safe and clean rural environment

 Click on Census of Agriculture  National, State, and County Data  Data Queries

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