Agricultural Policy, Economics, and Diverse Farms and Farmers

The design, implementation, and evaluation of agricultural policy serves a landscape of diverse farms and farmers who each face different opportunities and challenges. Farm operations vary across key characteristics including farm size, commodities produced, geography, and soil characteristics, among many others. In 2022, just over 1.9 million farms in the United States operated over 880.1 million acres (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2024). Around 88% of farms were classified as small family farms, those with a gross cash farm income (GCFI) of less than $350,000. These farms operate 46% of U.S. agricultural land, accounting for nearly one-fifth of the total value of agricultural production (Whitt et al., 2023). Large-scale family farms—those with a GCFI greater than $1 million— accounted for 52% of the value of production in 2022. Farm diversity is also linked to the types of commodities produced. For example, small farms account for the largest share of production value for poultry, eggs, and hay, while large-scale family farms lead in beef, hogs, cash grains/soybeans, cotton, dairy, and specialty crops (Whitt et al., 2023).