Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 2.6
Organization of farm business in North America
Receipts
a
Type of organization
Acres
% Acres
Farms
% Farms
%Receipts
Canada (1996)
Family
86,740,296
51.6%
168,007
60.8%
11,180,530
34.7%
Partnership
42,173,075
25.1%
74,8989
27.1%
7,756,586
24.1%
Family corporation
26,942,458
16.0%
27,082
9.8%
9,945,829
30.9%
Nonfamily corporation
4,917,049
2.9%
5,605
2.0%
3,203,293
9.9%
Other
b
7,394,597
4.4%
956
0.4%
144,118
0.4%
United States (1997)
Family
585,464,911
62.8
1,643,424
86.0
102,685,612
52.2%
Partnership
149,321,484
16.0
169,462
8.9
35,538,934
18.1%
Family corporation
119,559,203
12.8
76,103
4.0
45,889,331
23.3%
Nonfamily corporation
11,904,053
1.3
7,899
0.4
11,017,325
5.6%
Other
b
65,545,604
7.0
14,971
0.8
1,753,447
0.9%
Sources:
United States,
1997 Census of Agriculture
, Table 47, p. 63, and Canada,
1996 Census of Agriculture
.
a
Receipts, in thousands of current dollars, are the market value of agricultural products sold.
b
Includes trusts, municipalities, cooperatives, Indian reservations, and so on.
Table 2.7
Organization of nonfarm business in the United States
Type of organization
Number (1,000s)
Percent
Receipts ($billions)
Percent
Proprietorships
14,298
73
693
5.9
Partnerships
1,635
8.3
465
4.0
Corporations
3,628
18.5
10,440
90
Source: Statistical Abstract of the United States 1993
, Table 848, p. 531.
in small grain production, farming continues to be dominated by small, family-based firms
despite the tremendous changes that have taken place in agriculture over the past two
centuries.
24
As shown in table 2.2, farm numbers have declined, farm size has increased, and
technological changes have converted farms into capital-intensive enterprises, yet family
farming still dominates in most farming sectors.
Tables 2.6 and 2.7 show data on organization for both farming and nonagricultural indus-
tries. Family-run operations dominate in farming, while nonfamily corporate ownership is
trivial. This feature is exactly opposite what is found in the rest of the economy. The lay-
man's notion of the family farmer fading away into history simply is not borne out by the
evidence. The common sentiment over the disappearance of family farms no doubt reflects
the reduction and loss of small farming communities. As farm sizes have increased, the
number of families involved in farming has also fallen, making many small communities
