Farm typology

The USDA's Economic Research Service (ERS) has developed a farm typology, or farm classification, that divides the 2.1 million U.S. farms into 8 mutually exclusive and relatively homogeneous groups: limited resource farms retirement farms residential/lifestyle farms farming occupation/lower sales farming occupation/high sales large family farms very large family farms nonfamily farms.

Also, the eight categories can be collapsed into 3: rural residence farms intermediate farms commercial farms

Data for 2003 indicate that Commercial farms, those having sales of $250,000 or more annually, constitute 9% of all farms and account for 72% of production. Intermediate farms, constituting 24% of all farms, account for 19% of production. The largest number of farms, characterized as rural residence farms, constitute 68% of all farms and account for 8% of production.

Farm typology

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