Farm Facts
Do you know what is considered "a farm"? Or "farm land"? The following are definitions from the New England Agricultural Statistics, 2004:
Farm: A farm is any establishment from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products were sold or would normally be sold during the year.
Farmland: Farm land includes crop and livestock acreage, wasteland, woodland, pasture, land in summer fallow, idle cropland, and land enrolled in the Conservation Reserve Program and other set aside or commodity acreage programs. It excludes public, industrial, and grazing association land and nonagricultural land.
Here are some interesting facts about farms in New Hampshire, based on the 2004 Census of Agriculture, New Hampshire State and County Data (issued June 2004).
- There are 3,363 farms recorded in NH (up from 2,397 in 1998)
- The farm land in the state totaled 444,879 acres
- The average size of a farm is 132 acres, and 46% of farms are under 50 acres in area.
- Most farm land is in Grafton and Merrimack counties
- Almost 96% of New Hampshire's farms fit the category of "small farms" (sales below $250,000)
- 86.7% of the farms are owned by individuals or families
- 25% of the state's farms are operated by women
For more information contact:
USDA National Agricultural Statistic Service
1-800-523-3215 (General Census Information)
nass@nass.usda.gov
www.usda.gov/nass
New England Agricultural Statistic Service
22 Bridge St., Third Floor
PO Box 1444
Concord, NH 03302
(603)224-9639
nass-nh@nass.usda.gov
