1. N A S S 2002 ational gricultural tatistics ervice U.S. Department
of Agriculture
2002 N
ational
CENSUS OF
AGRICULTURE A
gricultural S
tatistics
Thank you for inviting me to the first annual Butler/Cunningham Conference.
This is my first opportunity to visit Alabama.
I have enjoyed preparing this Power Point Presentation and hope
that you find it interesting as well as informative. S
ervice

2. How does Alabama Agriculture Compare to Other States?
First Annual Butler/Cunningham Conference, November 13, 2002
Birmingham, Alabama
When preparing this presentation I decided to expand some of the information that was presented in Herb Vanderberry’s talk to show the the perspective from a U.S.

3. Source: 1997 Agriculture Census
Notice that as you move away from each coast the amount of land devoted to agriculture increases.
The percent of land in agriculture is calculated as the:
State’s approximate land area, acres / Land in Farms, acres.
States, that are colored red on this map, have less than 25% of their approximate land area (acres) being utilized for the purposes of agriculture. There are several reasons that may explain why:
Population pressures
Type of ag. is not land intensive, such as greenhouses, which support urban needs
Environmental factors – poor soils, low rainfall, etc.
Land not eligible for agricultural use, such as National Parks
U.S. 41%
AL 27%
Source: Agriculture Census

4. Source: 1997 Agriculture Census
U.S. 487 ac.
AL 210 ac.
U.S ac.
AL 210 ac.
Acres
According to the 1997 Census, Alabama has an average farm size of 210 acres. Farms with an average size of 100 – 200 acres are represented on the map using the color green. In addition to Alabama, there are 20 more States with this size range.
The smallest size range, farms averaging less than 100 acres, (of course) includes the smallest State - - Rhode Island, 75 acres per farm.
Arizona has the largest average size at approx acres per farm. AZ is home to several American Indian Reservations. The Census counts an American Indian Reservation as one farm, NASS is currently testing the feasibility of counting individual operations on American Indian Reservation. Nine States , which includes Alaska (approx acres per farm), average more than 1000 acres per farm.
The U.S. average size per farm is 487 acres.
Source: Agriculture Census

5. Source: 1997 Agriculture Census
Highest New Jersey $6600
Lowest New Mexico $200
U.S. $933 per acre
AL $1,442 per acre
Source: Agriculture Census

6. Source: 1997 Agriculture Census
Land is far and away the largest asset most farm operators possess.
Largest Arizona $1,689,000
Smallest West Virginia ,000
Alabama $299,000 average value per farm
U.S. $450,000 average value per farm
U.S. $450,000
AL $299,000
Source: Agriculture Census

7. Alabama is Animal Agriculture
U.S. is 50:50
AL is 80:20
Only three states have a higher percentage of their total sales coming from animal agriculture.
They are Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
Poultry is 66% of the animal agriculture in Alabama.
Less than of the 40,000 farms produce poultry. (8.4 % of the farms)
(i.e. A few farms selling a lot of birds.)
66% of the farms in Alabama sold cattle
Their sales accounted for almost 10% of the animal agriculture in the state.
(i.e. A lost of farms selling a few head of cattle.)
Sources: Agriculture Census

10. cotton, corn, peanuts, soybeans and wheat. While 80% of Alabama’s
value of sales is from animal production,
the remaining 20% comes from
the State’s major crops:
cotton, corn, peanuts,
soybeans and wheat.

15. Please notice that this slide is a subset of the universe of all farms.
The universe shown here is for farms with sales of $10,000 or more.
Compare Alabama with North and South Dakota –
The majority of the farmers in the Dakotas reported their principal occupation as farming.
Whereas in Alabama and many other areas of the country, farmers reported their principal occupation as “Other than farming”.

16. Compare Alabama to Florida.
Notice that Alabama has few farms operated by corporations.
Whereas Florida looks quite different.

19. Source: 1999 Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey

20. Total Net Cash Income: 1999 and 1988
Source: Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey

21. Farms With Production Contracts
Total Farms = 54,589
Source: Agricultural Economics and Land Ownership Survey

22. 2002 Coming Soon CENSUS OF AGRICULTURE
You Make It Known – AGRICULTURE COUNTS

23. The Census of Agriculture
2002
provides the most comprehensive source of
statistics portraying our Nation’s agriculture
CENSUS OF
AGRICULTURE
- is the only source of uniform agricultural data
for every county in the U.S.
provides a complete statistical picture of
U.S. farms and ranches every five years

24. 2002 To Help Reduce Respondent Burden - Report forms are regionalized
CENSUS OF
AGRICULTURE
Report forms are regionalized
75% of operators receive the
short form (non-sample)
Help line AG-STAT

25. Benefits to You 2002 Data supplied by farmers and ranchers will
help the ag community make informed
decisions concerning -
2002
CENSUS OF
AGRICULTURE
- Competitive market pricing and services
- Environmental and conservation issues
- New and changing technologies
Structure and needs of farms of various
sizes and specialties
Add speaker notes to this slide
- Irrigation and other practices
- Improving farming efficiencies
- Farming trends

26. ? Show The Same Trends? 2002 Census Count of Farms
Will The Picture For 2002 Continue to
Show The Same Trends?
2002
Census Count of Farms
CENSUS OF
AGRICULTURE
million
2.0
1.5 ?
1.0 .5

27. …The Same Trends?
2002
CENSUS OF
AGRICULTURE ?

28. …The Same Trends? 2002 U.S. AL. 210 $74,900 $11,840 $60,660 $35,900
CENSUS OF
AGRICULTURE
210
$74,900
$11,840
$60,660
$35,900
54.9

29. Data Collected 2002 Chemicals Crops Corporate structure
Energy expenditures
Farm programs
Farm acreage
Fertilizers
Irrigated land
Land use & ownership
Livestock & Poultry
Machinery & equipment
Market value of products
Operator characteristics
Production expenses
CENSUS OF
AGRICULTURE

30. Being Collected Include -
Some New Information
Being Collected Include -
2002
- Multiple operators (up to 3 operators)
- Acres used to grow certified organic commodities
- Aquatic plants
- Acres treated with animal manure
- Grain storage capacity
Bison, deer, elk, llamas, emus, & ostrich inventory
More detailed farm-related income
Computer/Internet use
CENSUS OF
AGRICULTURE

31. Thank you