A Family Affair

摘要

Beginning farms tend to be smaller than established farms, and their operators are often younger and more likely to work off of the farm. USDA's Economic Research Service defines a beginning farm or ranch as one on which all operators have had no morethan 10 years of experience as a farm or ranch operator. Beginning farms and ranches accounted for 17 percent of all U.S. operations and 8 percent of the value of agricultural production between 2013 and 2017. Between 2013 and 2017, about a third (33 percent) of beginning farms produced at least $10,000 worth of output, compared with almost half of established farms (48 percent). Among farms with at least $10,000 in production, principal operators of beginning farms were 43 years old on average, compared with 63 years old on average for operators of established farms.