2. The Latest Numbers on Alabama Agriculture November 8, 2004 3 rd Butler/Cunningham Conference

3. Farm Numbers

4. Alabama Land in Farms  Farm land accounted for 64 % of the state’s total 32.5 million acre land area in 1950  In 1997, farm land accounted for 27% Source: Census of Agriculture

5. Trend Continues at Increasing Rate  From 1997 to 2002, farm numbers declined 10% –Most were <$10K Sales –80% were <180 acres  Land in Farms declined 6% Source: 2002 Census of Ag

6. Harvested Cropland  In 1997, cropland accounted for 6 % of total farm land  Cropland accounted for 18 % of total land area in 1950 Source: Census of Agriculture

7. Harvested Cropland 8% Decrease in 5 years Source: 2002 Census of Ag

8. Farm Counts by Size

9. Acres per Farm - 2002  75% of farms are 180 acres or less  500 acre plus farms make up 8% of total  2,000 acre plus farms total 523, or 1%

10. Farm Counts by Value of Sales

11. Percent of Farms and Value of Sales Source: 2002 Census of Ag

12.  10 % of Alabama farms produce 90 % of the market value of products sold  1.4 % of farms sell $1,000,000 or more of ag products and account for nearly 40 % of all sales  Nearly three-fourths of all farms sell less than $10,000 of ag products (less than 3% of all sales)

13. Farm Structure

14. Net Returns per Farm

15. Net Gains & Losses  More farms with losses than gains in 2002  Farms w/gains averaged $21,000 on the plus side  Farms w/losses averaged $10,000 loss  Overall, farms averaged $7,100 gain

16. Net Returns by Sales Group  Farms with $10,000 or more in sales had a positive net return  Farms with less than $10,000 in sales had a negative return

17. Sales Category # of Farms Gain/Loss  $ 1,000,000 + 667 $229,556 Gain  500,000 – 999,999 1,403 73,999 Gain  250,000 – 499,999 1,355 52,195 Gain  100,000 – 249,000 1,299 27,993 Gain  50,000 - 99,999 1,142 12,131 Gain  25,000 - 49,999 1,825 6,061 Gain  10,000 - 24,999 5,527 2,235 Gain  5,000 - 9,999 6,274 1,450 Loss  2,500 - 4,999 6,349 2,302 Loss  1,000 - 2,499 6,368 2,728 Loss  Less than 1,000 13,185 2,812 Loss

18. Net Returns by Farm Type or Enterprise

19. Farm Enterprise

20. Net Returns per Farm

21.  Most nursery operations (71%) have less than $50,000 net return….very large nurseries have major influence on average  Likewise, about half of dairies net less than $50,000 per farm – not many left

23. What do our largest farms look like?

24. $1,000,000 Plus Gross Sales  648 Farms (1% of all farms)  77% are poultry operations  7% are nursery/greenhouse operations  6% are row crop farms

25. Farm Demographics

26. Average Age of Principal Operator Census Year

27. Age Groups - 2002

28. Tenure Years on Farm Operators 72% 18% 7% 3%

29. Percent of Operator’s Total Income from Farming % of Total Income # of Operators 74% 6%

30. Days Worked off the Farm  55% of primary operators worked off the farm  Of those working off the farm, 75% worked 200 days or more, essentially full time job # of operators

31.  The larger the farm size, the fewer days worked off the farm  However, a 260 acre farm still has as many primary operators working off the farm as not  And, even the 2,000 acre plus farms have 31% of operators working off the farm, with 59% of those working 200 days or more

32. Finally, the numbers tell a lot about Alabama farms…… But, They don’t tell an equally important story - conservation practices of farms and their contribution toward a safe and clean rural environment

33. www.usda.gov/nass  Click on Census of Agriculture  National, State, and County Data  Data Queries

34. Linda’s Next with the U.S. Picture!