EMBARGOED UNTIL: 10 A.M. EDT, AUGUST 5, 1996 (MONDAY ) Please note our new policy: NO BROADCAST OR PRINT BEFORE 10 A.M. EDT Public Information Office CB96-131 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-4067 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Agriculture and Financial Statistics Division 800-523-3215 NUMBER OF NATION'S LARGE FARMS INCREASE WHILE OVERALL FARM TOTAL DECLINES IN LAST QUARTER CENTURY, CENSUS BUREAU REPORTS The number of America's large farms--those with sales of $100,000 or more--grew sixfold in the past 25 years, increasing from 51,995 in 1969 to 333,865 in 1992, according to an Agricultural Brief, Large Farms Are Thriving in the United States, AB/96-1, released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. During this same time span, the total number of farms declined from 2.7 million in 1969 to 1.9 million in 1992. "Large farms are more likely than small farms to be operated by full-time farmers, receive government payments, be organized as corporations, and generate large returns," said Jeff Kissel, a Census Bureau analyst. In 1992, large farms comprised less than 20 percent of all the nation's farms. However, they operated 54 percent of the total land in farm use and produced approximately 83 percent of all farm products sold. According to data collected on farms from the 1992 Census of Agriculture, large farms and those with less than $100,000 in sales provide two distinctly different profiles.
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