Friday on the Farm: Successful Farming; Large Family Farms: Few in Number, Big Output

From Successful Farming:

A quarter century ago, small farms generated 46% of U.S. agricultural production. Today, the powerhouse of production is the large family farm with more than $1 million a year in gross cash farm income (GCFI). They represented 2.9% of the U.S. farm total in 2015 but were responsible for 42% of ag output, say USDA economists James MacDonald and Robert Hoppe.

Not a good trend in my view.

When all types of ownership are considered, there were 65,000 farms with $1 million or more GCFI. Some 90% were family owned. The remaining 6,300 farms included 1,760 corporations. Almost all of the rest were partnerships, cooperatives, or operated by managers on behalf of trusts, estates, families, or institutions. Most of the corporate farms had 10 or fewer shareholders.

Super sized farms, with high productivity, means fewer farms and fewer farmers. And, necessarily, corporate ownership of those farms.