Will the smallest farms no longer be ranked as farms at all?(WHAT'S A FARM?)

Kiplinger Agriculture Letter, The, March, 2008

Will the smallest farms no longer be ranked as farms at all?

In a few years, yes. We expect efforts by USDA and Congress to eventually redefine farms as operations with $5000 to $10,000 in annual ag sales, up from $1000, which has applied since 1975. USDA will propose alternative farm reclassifications by midsummer.

About 55% of today's farms would no longer be called farms if the threshold is raised to $10,000 in annual ag product sales. (With big farms the norm, the 55% makes up just 12% of U.S. farmland.)

Many more farms wouldn't make the cut if the definition is changed to include those with less than $50,000 in annual sales, as proposed by House Ag. Com. Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN). Peterson wants to end USDA crop subsidies to...

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