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This is only true if we are only talking commodity crops. But the average farm in the us is still only ~400 acres. For food crops you can still do pretty well

This is only true if we are only talking commodity crops. But the average farm in the us is still only ~400 acres. For food crops you can still do pretty well on a 100 acre farm. Berries/fruits/vegetables/etc. Especially if you live in a community with access to distribution for said crops. I live in an area with a lot of food ag and it's not uncommon for farms of just a couple dozen acres to pay the bills.

mcguire 4y ago
If the things I've seen are right, most of the smaller farms like this are side-gigs: the household adults have day jobs.
- legitster 4y ago
  Sure. My parents have a couple of acres of orchard on their property they pay someone to professionally manage. If they get $5k a year from it they are pretty happy. There are also a lot of small farms that are run by teachers (works well with the summers off). But I think you would find that anything over 50 acres in an area with distribution options (either close to a packer for that product or urban area) CAN be a full time job if you know what you are doing and are willing to work that hard.
- saalweachter 4y ago
  I know, like, one farmer whose only job is farming, even those who are farming like 60+ hours a week.
gruez 4y ago
> This is only true if we are only talking commodity crops. But the average farm in the us is still only ~400 acres. This metric is misleading because of how it's calculated. Since you're weighting each farm equally, a 1M acre farm gets the same amount of weight as a 100 acre farm. Therefore, if in a country you have 100 acres of farmland in total, and the farm sizes are 90, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, you'd end up with an "average" farm size of 10, but in reality most of the farmland is actually part of a megafarm.
- legitster 4y ago
  425 is just the mean. The median is only like ~40 acres! While, farm consolidation is a growing concern (pun very much intended), the current reality is that large mega-farms are still the minority. Family owned farms still account for 89% of all agricultural product in the US. 47% of production is coming from farms grossing less than $1 million annually. Sources: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/farming-and-farm-income/ https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistic... https://www.usfarmdata.com/percentage-of-small-medium-and-large-farms-in-the-us https://www.usfarmdata.com/percentage-of-small-medium-and-la...
  - paulhart 4y ago
    Given a fixed amount of land to distribute, it makes sense that mega farms are a minority, no? :)
freeopinion 4y ago
Imagine a family that lives on 1/2 acre with two or three goats. The goats breed. The family sells a few kids each year. They are required to register their farm and tag each goat so that certain diseases can be tracked. Their children next door do the same. The neighbor across the street farms 400 acres of crops. The average farm on their street is 134 acres. The first two families don't even consider themselves farmers.
kuhewa 4y ago
There are market gardeners making a living with 2-5 acres and a bit of open source DIY tech.

mcguire 4y ago

If the things I've seen are right, most of the smaller farms like this are side-gigs: the household adults have day jobs.

legitster 4y ago
Sure. My parents have a couple of acres of orchard on their property they pay someone to professionally manage. If they get $5k a year from it they are pretty happy. There are also a lot of small farms that are run by teachers (works well with the summers off). But I think you would find that anything over 50 acres in an area with distribution options (either close to a packer for that product or urban area) CAN be a full time job if you know what you are doing and are willing to work that hard.
saalweachter 4y ago
I know, like, one farmer whose only job is farming, even those who are farming like 60+ hours a week.

gruez 4y ago

> This is only true if we are only talking commodity crops. But the average farm in the us is still only ~400 acres. This metric is misleading because of how it's calculated. Since you're weighting each farm equally, a 1M acre farm gets the same amount of weight as a 100 acre farm. Therefore, if in a country you have 100 acres of farmland in total, and the farm sizes are 90, 2, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, you'd end up with an "average" farm size of 10, but in reality most of the farmland is actually part of a megafarm.

legitster 4y ago
425 is just the mean. The median is only like ~40 acres! While, farm consolidation is a growing concern (pun very much intended), the current reality is that large mega-farms are still the minority. Family owned farms still account for 89% of all agricultural product in the US. 47% of production is coming from farms grossing less than $1 million annually. Sources: https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/farming-and-farm-income/ https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistic... https://www.usfarmdata.com/percentage-of-small-medium-and-large-farms-in-the-us https://www.usfarmdata.com/percentage-of-small-medium-and-la...
- paulhart 4y ago
  Given a fixed amount of land to distribute, it makes sense that mega farms are a minority, no? :)

freeopinion 4y ago

Imagine a family that lives on 1/2 acre with two or three goats. The goats breed. The family sells a few kids each year. They are required to register their farm and tag each goat so that certain diseases can be tracked. Their children next door do the same. The neighbor across the street farms 400 acres of crops. The average farm on their street is 134 acres. The first two families don't even consider themselves farmers.

kuhewa 4y ago

There are market gardeners making a living with 2-5 acres and a bit of open source DIY tech.