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Exploring Alternative Farm Definitions: Implications for Agricultural Statistics and Program Eligibility

Author

Listed:
  • O'Donoghue, Erik J.
  • Hoppe, Robert A.
  • Banker, David E.
  • Korb, Penni

Abstract

Meeting agricultural policy and statistical goals requires a defi nition of U.S. agriculture’s basic unit, the farm. However, these goals can be at odds with one another. USDA defi nes “farm” very broadly to comprehensively measure agricultural activity. Consequently, most establishments classifi ed as farms in the United States produce very little, while most production occurs on a small number of much larger operations. While desirable for obtaining comprehensive national coverage, measurement and analysis based on the current defi nition can provide misleading characterizations of farms and farm structure in the United States. Additionally, more stringent requirements have been proposed for farms to qualify for Federal agricultural program benefi ts. This analysis outlines the structure of U.S. farms, discusses the current farm defi nition, evaluates several potential criteria that have been proposed to defi ne target farms more precisely, and examines how these criteria affect both statistical coverage and program eligibility.

Suggested Citation

  • O'Donoghue, Erik J. & Hoppe, Robert A. & Banker, David E. & Korb, Penni, 2009. "Exploring Alternative Farm Definitions: Implications for Agricultural Statistics and Program Eligibility," Economic Information Bulletin 291954, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uersib:291954
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.291954
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Kenneth Poon & Alfons Weersink, 2011. "Factors affecting variability in farm and off‐farm income," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 71(3), pages 379-397, November.
    2. Luca Sartore & Kelly Toppin & Linda Young & Clifford Spiegelman, 2019. "Developing Integer Calibration Weights for Census of Agriculture," Journal of Agricultural, Biological and Environmental Statistics, Springer;The International Biometric Society;American Statistical Association, vol. 24(1), pages 26-48, March.
    3. MacDonald, James M. & Hoppe, Robert A. & Newton, Doris, 2018. "Three Decades of Consolidation in U.S. Agriculture," Economic Information Bulletin 276247, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. MacDonald, James M., 2011. "Why Are Farms Getting Larger? The Case Of The U.S," 51st Annual Conference, Halle, Germany, September 28-30, 2011 115361, German Association of Agricultural Economists (GEWISOLA).
    5. White, T. Kirk & Hoppe, Robert A., 2012. "Changing Farm Structure and the Distribution of Farm Payments and Federal Crop Insurance," Economic Information Bulletin 120309, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    6. Minegishi, Kota & Mieno, Taro, 2020. "Gold in Them Tha-R Hills: A Review of R Packages for Exploratory Data Analysis," Applied Economics Teaching Resources (AETR), Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 2(3), July.
    7. Hoppe, Robert A., 2014. "Structure and Finances of U.S. Farms: Family Farm Report, 2014 Edition," Economic Information Bulletin 262118, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    8. Hoppe, Robert & Korb, Penni, 2013. "Characteristics of Women Farm Operators and Their Farms," Economic Information Bulletin 148543, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

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