Farm Structural Trends in the 1980's

The farm sector seems to be recovering from the financial stress of the early to mid-1980's. Many individual farmers experienced considerable financial difficulties, but the recession did not cause major changes in the basic structure of U.S. farming: farm numbers and land in farms declined in the 1980’s while average farm size increased. These are following long-term trends, but the rates of change have slowed each decade. Asset values fell drastically during the recent recession, but the declines are moderating. The distribution of farmers by operator tenure, average age, principal occupation, and off-farm work practices changed little since 1982. However, there are significant geographic variations from the national trends in farm structure. This report contains 1987 Census of Agriculture data on various characteristics of farm structure in the 1980's and describes the farm economy as it enters the new decade.