February 5, 2009
USDA Secretary: No growth in midsize US farms is troubling
The number of large and small farms rose in the US from 2002 through 2007, but there was no growth in midsize farms and that, US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Wednesday (February 4), is "disturbing."
Vilsack said he would like to reverse that trend and he will offer the data up to be used by Vice President Joe Biden's middle-class task force.
"I'll make sure USDA will be involved in that task force," Vilsack said.
In 2002 there were 163,521 farms that produced between US$25,000 and US$50,000 worth of commodities. Five years later, in 2007, there was almost exactly the same amount of farmers - 163,500 - in that bracket.
But the number of the largest farms nearly doubled. There were 29,537 farms in 2002 that produced more than US$1 million worth of commodities. In 2007 there were 57,292.
"About 5 percent of farms in this country produce about 75 percent of the crops ... we grow," Vilsack said.
