"What do you think of when you hear the phrase family-owned business? You may not immediately think of the family farm, but they are just as important to our economy and communities. In fact, family farms account for 96% of all U.S. farms, according to the 2017 Census of Agriculture Farm Typology report released last week by the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS). These farms – 1,789,439 small family farms, 108,304 mid-size family farms, and 52,592 large-scale family farms – collectively produced $318 billion worth of agricultural products in 2017.
Typology classifies all farms into categories based on two criteria – who owns the operation and gross cash farm income (GCFI). GCFI includes the farm producer’s sales of crops and livestock, fees for delivering commodities under production contracts, government payments, and farm-related income. USDA defines small family farms as those with a GCFI of less than $350,000; mid-size farms have a GCFI of $350,000 to $999,999; and large-scale farms are those with a GCFI of $1 million or more.."
