Hi,
You asked for data showing "massive consolidation of farming in the US
recently". Most of the links below are to official government sources.
Detailed statistics from the 1997, 1992 & 1987 censuses can be found
here:
Census of Agriculture: 1987, 1992, 1997
http://govinfo.library.orst.edu/cgi-bin/ag-list?01-state.usa
Charts:
http://www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/trends/farmnumbers.htm
The data indicates some consolidation. Although the total number of
farms in the USA decreased by almost 10% in 10 years, the average size
only increased by 5%. The only category that grew was farms greater
than 1,000 acres, with an increase of 8,000 farms. The biggest
reductions were in the categories of 180-499 acres, and those less
than 10 acres.
Data for any state, county or zip code is at:
Census of Agriculture: 1987, 1992, 1997
http://govinfo.kerr.orst.edu/ag-stateis.html
Other related reports can be found at:
1997 Census of Agriculture: Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership
Survey (1999)
http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/census97/aelos/aelos.htm
Recent data cannot be as precise or detailed, as the tentative release
date for 2002 Census data is Feb 2004, as stated at:
http://www.nass.usda.gov/census/census02/2002censusdates.htm
However, information can be found at:
New York Agricultural Statistics Service
FARMS AND FARMLAND: Number of Farms, Land in Farms and Land Use,
1991-2000
http://www.nass.usda.gov/ny/bulletin/2001/01-p006.pdf
(note: .pdf file, requires Acrobat Reader)
"The number of farms and ranches in the United States in 2001
decreased less than 1 percent to 2.16 million. Total land in farms was
941 million acres, down less than 1 percent. The average farm size
increased from 2000 to 436 acres. The number of farms in the economic
sales class between $1,000 and $9,999 decreased to 1.17 million while
farms with sales between $10,000 and $99,999 increased to 642,010.
Farms with over $100,000 in sales remained at 349,180. The impact of
adverse weather, lower commodity prices, and competition for land
contributed to the overall reduction and consolidation of farms and
ranches during 2001."
taken from NEW YORK FARM NUMBERS DECREASE (2-27-02)
http://www.nass.usda.gov/ny/02feb/frm20227.htm
NASS Published Estimates Data Base
http://www.nass.usda.gov:81/ipedb/farmnum.htm
Statistical Highlights 1998-99: Farm Economics (Farm Numbers Up
Slightly)
http://www.usda.gov/nass/pubs/stathigh/1999/summ1.htm
"A report released Feb. 22 [2002] by the National Agricultural
Statistics Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture showed that
the number of farms and ranches nationwide, estimated at 2.16 million
in 2001, dropped 0.7 percent from 2000 estimates. The decline occurred
primarily in agricultural operations with sales between $10,000 and
$99,000."
taken from http://65.213.205.163/news/2002/mar/030102_1.htm
Many papers and studies can be found using the following keywords, but
mostly you will find regional information, and studies using the
census data from 1997 and earlier.
Google keywords:
"farm size" decreased
robertskelton-ga |
