USDA AG CENSUS HAS SOME NEW DATA

A preliminary look!

The 2002 Census of Agriculture serves as the most comprehensive source of data describing U.S. agriculture. Some of the new data included in the new report includes sex of the operator, residence on or off the farm, days worked off the farm, age group categories, etc. For example, preliminary results show:

• The average age of the principle operator on Ohio farms in 2002 was 53.8 years old.
  
  
• 25.4 percent of Ohio farm operators were women in 2002; the number of women who were principle operators increased 28.0 percent from 1997.
  
  
• Principle operators of Spanish, Hispanic, or Latino origin increased by 44.4 percent from 1997 to 2002.
  
  
• 9.1 percent of Ohio's agricultural operations are still run by individuals or families and many are still small farms. 60.0 percent of Ohio operations had less than $10,000 in sales of agricultural products in 2002.
  
  
• The number of total farms decreased from 1997 by 952 to 77,785 in 2002.
  
  
• Total land in Ohio farms decreased by some 128 thousand acres since 1997 to a new toal of 14.6 million acres in 2002.
  

Final 2002 Census of Agriculture data will be released on June 3, 2004 and will be available free through the National Agricultural Statistics Service (NAAS) website at www.usda.gov/nass/.