Some Special Definitions

Distribution of Farms and Income by Sales Class

  1. For 1960‑68 size class 1C includes farms with annual sales of $100,000 and over.
  2. For 1969‑81 size class 1B includes farms with annual sales of $200,000‑$499,999, and size class 1C includes farms with annual sales of $100,000‑$199,999.
  3. For 1982‑89 size class 1B includes farms with annual sales of $250,000‑$499,999, and size class 1C includes farms with annual sales of $100,000‑$249,999.
  4. For 1989 size class 5 includes farms with annual sales of less than $10,000.
  5. For 1995 and subsequently size class 4 includes farms with annual sales of $50,000-$99,999; size class 5 includes farms with annual sales of $20,000-$49,999; and size class AA includes farms with annual sales of $1,000,000 or more.

Aggregate Farm Income

  1. Gross cash income=cash receipts from farm marketings + government payments + farm‑related cash income.
  2. Net cash income=gross cash income ‑ cash expenses. For 1960‑77 this was estimated as Gross cash income ‑ total production expenses.

Food Donation Programs

  1. Child Nutrition Programs include (a) School Lunch, (b) School Breakfast, (c) Child Care, (d) Summer Food, and (e) cost of food distribution to all of the above.
  2. Food distribution programs to institutions include distributions to Needy Families (Indian Reservations), Nutrition Program for the Elderly, Commodity Supplemental Food Program, Charitable Institutions, Summer Camps, and the Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).

Farm Income Accounts

(see Economic Research Service's Farm Income data:

  • http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/FarmIncome/finfidmu.htm
  • http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/WellBeing/Gallery/historic.htm
  • http://www.ers.usda.gov/FarmStructure/Data/historic.htm)

Gross Farm Income

Cash income

  • Farm Marketings of Crops & Livestock
  • Government Payments
  • Other Farm Income (machine hire/custom work; farm‑related)

Non Cash Income

  • Home Consumption
  • Rental value of dwellings (operator/farm dwellings; hired labor dwellings)

Value of Inventory Adjustment

Total Production Expenses

Intermediate expenses

Farm Origin

  • Feed, Livestock, Seed

Manufactured

  • Fertilizer/lime, pesticides, fuel/oil, electric

Other

  • Repair/maintenance of Capital Items
  • Machine hire and custom work
  • Marketing, Storage, & Transportation
  • Miscellaneous expense

Interest (real estate & non-real estate)

Contract & hired labor (cash, Employers Contribution to SS, & perquisites)

Net rent to non-operator landlords

Capital Replacement, Accidental damage

Property taxes

Net Farm Income

Cash Income

Cash Expenses

  • Intermediate expenses
  • Interest
  • Cash labor expenses
  • Net rent to non-operator landlords
  • Property taxes

Net Cash Income

Cash Income

  • Cash Expenses
  • Capital Consumption

Net Business Income

Gross Receipts of Farms

Non-factor Payments

  • Intermediate product expenses
  • Capital consumption
  • Property taxes

Factor Payments

  • Interest
  • Contract and Hired labor expenses
  • Net rent to non-operator landlords

Returns to Operators

  • Off‑farm income

Estimation of Off-Farm Income

Estimating off-farm income of farm operator families is far from an exact science. The user of these statistics should consult Mary Ahearn, "Financial Well-Being of Farm Operators and Their Households." AER-563. U.S. Dept. of Ag. Economic Research Service. Sept. 1986.

Total off-farm income for the farm sector has been estimated as the product of (1) "non-farm portion" of farm operator household income as reported in the above web sites, and (2) the number of farm households as reported by the U.S. Bureau of the Census. Off-farm income of farm households was estimated by Economic Research Service as explained in the above sources. Note that the estimation procedure changed in 1960.

Gross Farm Product (GDPFMPDT)

Gross Farm Income (cash receipts from farm marketings plus CCC loans less the value of inventory changes, plus the value of home consumption and the rental value of farm dwellings) [INCGROSS+NETHOME+NETOTHER+NETRENT]

LESS

Intermediate Expenses

  • Farm origin input expenses (Feed, livestock, seed [EXPNFEED, EXPNLIVE, EXPNSEED])
  • Manufactured input expenses (Fertilizer, pesticides, fuel and oil, electricity [EXPNFERT, EXPNPEST, EXPNPETR, EXPNELEC])
  • Other operating expenses
    • Repair and operation of buildings and machinery [EXPNBLDG]
    • Hired and contract labor [EXPNLABR]
    • Machine hire and custom work [EXPNCUST]
    • Marketing, storage, transportation [EXPNMKTG]
    • Miscellaneous operating expenses [EXPNMISC]
  • Rental payments to non-farm landlords [EXPNRENT]

Another name for this variable is Gross Domestic Farm Product or the total market value of all goods and services produced during the year - i.e., the sum of value added at every stage of production of all final goods and services produced during the year.

National Income Originating in Agriculture

This is defined as Gross Farm Product less Capital Consumption Allowances and Indirect Business Taxes plus Government Payments to Farm Landlords.

Cash Receipts from Farm Marketings

All Commodities

Livestock and Products

  • Meat animals (Cattle and calves; Hogs; Sheep and lambs)
  • Dairy products (Milk, retail; Milk, wholesale)
  • Poultry/eggs (Broilers; Farm chickens; Chicken eggs; Turkeys; Ducks; Other poultry)
  • Miscellaneous livestock (Honey; Horses/mules; Mohair; Wool; Aquaculture; Other livestock)

Crops

  • Food grains (Rice; Rye; Wheat)
  • Feed crops (Barley; Corn; Hay; Oats; Sorghum grain; Silage)
  • Cotton (Cotton lint, all; Cottonseed)
  • Tobacco
  • Oil crops (Peanuts; Soybeans; Sunflower; Sesame)
  • Vegetables (Beans, dry; Peas, dry; Lentils (beans); Potatoes; Sweet Potatoes; Taro; Asparagus; Beans, green lima; Beans, snap; Beets; Broccoli; Cabbage; Carrots; Cauliflower; Celery; Corn, sweet; Cucumbers; Eggplant, all; Escarole; Lettuce; Onions; Peas, green; Peppers, green; Peppers, chili; Spinach; Tomatoes; Radishes; Squash; Misc. vegetables; Honeydews; Watermelons; Casaba melons)
  • Fruits/nuts (Grapefruit; Lemons; Limes; Oranges; Tangelos; Tangerines; K-early citrus (citrus sold before marketing year); Apples; Apricots; Avocados; Cherries; Dates; Figs; Grapes; Nectarines; Olives; Peaches; Pears; Persimmons; Pineapples; Plums and prunes; Pomegranates; Coffee; Bananas; Papayas; Kiwifruit; Mangos; Cranberries; Strawberries; Blueberries; Raspberries; Other berries; Almonds; Filberts; Pecans; Walnuts; Macadamia nuts; Pistachios; Misc. Fruits & nuts)
  • All other crops (Maple products; Sugar Beets; Cane for sugar; Alfalfa; Bent Grass; Bluegrass-Kentucky; Crimson clover; Fescue; Orchard Grass; Red clover; Ryegrass; Sorghum Sudan crosses; other seeds; Hops; Mint; Other field crops; Christmas trees; Greenhouse/nursery; Mushrooms)

Feed-Livestock Feed-Price Ratios

(Pounds of Feed Equal in Value to One Pound of Animal or Product)

Modifications in the calculation of feed price ratios are a result of Prices Paid program changes initiated in January 1995, using a different procedure. NASS uses fixed composition rations common to dairy and poultry production as established by University animal nutritionists. The methodology utilizes major raw feed component prices from the NASS agricultural commodity prices published monthly. The major feed components of corn and soybeans account for 83 to 91 percent of the total ingredients in the rations. The contribution for feed additives and antibiotics are held constant.

Milk - Number of pounds of 16% protein mixed dairy feed (51 pounds of corn, 8 pounds of soybeans, 41 pounds of alfalfa hay) equal in value to one pound of whole milk.

Steers - Number of bushels of corn equal in value to 100 pounds of steer and heifers, live weight.

Hogs - Number of bushels of corn equal in value to 100 pounds of all hogs, live weight.

Boilers - Number of pounds of broiler grower feed (58 pounds of corn and 42 pounds of soybeans) equal in value to one pound of broiler, live weight.

Layers - Number of pounds of laying feed (75 pounds of corn and 25 pounds of soybeans) equal in value to one dozen market eggs.

Turkeys -Number of pounds of turkey grower feed (51 pounds corn, 28 pounds of soybeans, and 21 pounds of all wheat) equal in value to one pound of turkey, live weight.

Example: Broiler/Feed Price Ratio

PRCDBROI / (58/56PRCDCORN + 42/60PRCDSOY)

National Income Accounts

Gross Domestic Product (GDP)

PLUS Receipts (interest, dividends, & reinvested earnings) from the Rest of the World.

LESS Payments (interest, dividends, & reinvested earnings) to the Rest of the World.

Gross National Product (GNP)

LESS Capital Consumption Allowance

Net National Product (NNP)

LESS Indirect Business Taxes

PLUS Subsidies

National Income (NI)

LESS Corporate Net Interest

LESS Corporate Contributions for Social Insurance

PLUS Personal Interest Income

PLUS Personal Dividend Income

PLUS Government Transfers to Individuals

PLUS Business Transfers to Individuals

Personal Income (PI)

Gross Domestic Product

= Personal Consumption Expenditures + Gross Private Domestic Investment + Net Exports of Goods and Services + Government Purchases

National Income

Compensation of Employees

Proprietors' Income with Inventory Adjustment, & Capital Consumption. Adjustment

Rental income of persons with Capital Consumption Adjustment

Corporate Profits with Inventory Adjustment & Capital Consumption Adjustment

  • Profit Tax Liability
  • Dividends
  • Undistributed profits
  • Inventory valuation adjustment
  • Capital consumption adjustment

Net Interest